One More
by Stilldead
Summary: Shinichi Kudo never really shared much about the Black Organization with Heiji. But what happens when his friend has some clues to help him find out for himself? There is a new poison to try out and this time it will be Shinichi helping out. In other words, i can't write - you can take this - or even adopt this. It's basically a fix & hurt/angst train?
1. Chapter 1-preview

**Fixing mistakes will be finished after about a week,(?) Wait by then**

**Preview**

* * *

_Current time_

3 people dressed in black were passing the narrow alley, walking hurriedly and talking quietly.  
It was pretty late, about 1 a.m. or so.  
Their cases rustling at their coats and smoke coming off one of the cigarettes made a pretty sight to behold, the setting being unusually silent.  
The night was cold and a slight breeze was making trees rustle their pretty leaves. The night was dark enough to see stars and a full moon shining down on the roads, making up for all the broken lanterns in the way.

Even though there was no sun yet, the colors will be coming back quickly onto the sky in no time.

"Haven't we done enough in that area? Some people saw us last time but at the same time others offered good rare business... I kinda like it here." The mic buzzed in detective's ears, the conversation echoing. "Since we have a spot ready,we can..."  
A female voice suddenly answered over her coat. "Whatever happens we already have some good weapons on us and transport ready at almost every spot in this cursed city, so i guess no need to hurry." Another voice followed up with the conversation, agreeing.

Heiji was pretty glad and proud of this device he used to hear their conversations. Never thought it will be useful since he was aiming to be a detective not a cop or a spy, but still. He was pretty sure if he got their voices he may as well have their identity easier to deduce later.

_After a bit of work, maybe they will talk about their real hideout?- _Heiji thought. -_ ...If they even had a stable one_.

Shinichi never told him none of such things, alas only guessing and hope remained. The signal of the device required the high-schooler to move from time to time until the guys were done with their errands, eventually stopping somewhere giving him a solid location.  
It was pretty late but he was glad to be here. Glad to be helping. Being alone really made tonight easier, especially when it came to concentrating on hiding your position and listening to the info at once. Trying to focus on the conversations going back and forth and trying to pick up on anything, he focused even more.

He was _soooooo_ ready for the next few days of getting onto these goons.

"You guys are so screwed. I can't wait tah' i get yo all to pay for the crimes you committed." Heiji muttered as he went down the dimly lit street.

_..._

_..._

_..._

He didn't even notice how fast time has passed. It was basically morning, which meant he must have closed his eyes just as the sun rose up. Disadvantages of blinking, he guesses.

"Huh, that was more productive than i thought it would be. Now how is..." - The conversations were quiet for a while so he got paranoid for a second, however checking the location and everything being still active meant they haven't discovered his device or stopped where they were supposed to. Good.

The thing that happened here some other times made their move predictable enough to get close today. Since Conan always was paralyzed from fear when he had seen or heard about any of these guys or even a person who was just dressed black it seemed like a delicate task to even go near these guys - and here Hattori was, sneaking in a locator when being a safe distance away with a calm mind. It was going alright, and so Heiji put the locator down.

_...Yo may be better sometimes with the case or noticing clues on the ground with that short posture of yours, but i am still good enough to figure out the enemy._

_..._

He didn't even notice the disguised woman behind him, reaching out for his head.


	2. Chapter 2-following a clue

**I never actually thought of writing anything**

**I am no expert in English and i know i'm bad**

**I still have no idea why i decided to do anything today.**

* * *

_Afternoon,Friday_

"No Heiji! You dummy, I am going with you! I WILL go on this investigation because that's the only way to spend some time together!"

"Beside school? What are ya even planning on doing, Kazuha?" He turned around now, serious and with grim expression.

He knows that she is supposed to be his 'childhood friend' and all, but all she is doing is getting in the way. Every important case he has requires him to take some time to save this girl from trouble or from the murderer. Or _both_. He has enough on his back as it is, being allowed to sharpen his skills only because of his family and connections. His main objective in being a detective is _not_ to make a bigger scene and figure out the crimes on time. Nothing more, nothing less. Certainly not wasting time on shushing her when the situation is delicate.

Yet here he goes again.

"I... wanted to help out, meet some people in town, uhhh, maybe go shopping and also figure out the case! I would help, just you watch me!" You could tell she was desperate now. Normal good friends give each other space, unlike this clingy thing...

In the end she dares to blame him for all her mistakes, meanwhile insisting on coming knowing all the risks that come with the field. _Every time!_ "You know? Whatever. Just don't go crying because it wasn't as fun as me savin' your ass again."

"_Haah_? You idiot! I can take care of myself. You use this, 'saving' as an excuse because you ain't brave enough to confess yo feelings...!" She covered her mouth quickly, basically telling him all the reasons she has for going with him on the more important crime scene. Heiji furrowed his brow and Kazuha looked away from him, reddened. This girl. _Did he even like her?_ Caring for your friend or even another human being does not equal love - and he didn't even think about asking anyone out, not Kazuha ,especially if it was just for her to criticize and insult him over and over. What is she thinking? This was a serious investigation, not a field trip...

"You think tha? Do you? Well listen here. Give me some space because you are too annoying as of now. I only think of you as a sister, ya doof.  
I hope you can give up someday and see me as a brother, more importantly, one that you do not need to remind how much stupid he is every five seconds." He said as he turned around, effectively shattering the girl's fantasies and making her remember that trust needs to be taken care of if it's supposed to stay.

...

_...Trust. Such a curious thing. You measure it yoself', but in the end the others decide. Most of the time, at least for him, they're wrong. Fleeting, powerful, rare... fragile. _

...

Opening his cell phone, he typed out to his mom how much time he won't be at home. This clue that he received may change something much more important than just his skills or record. He may change someone's **LIFE** this time.

His thumb hovered over one of the other contacts he wanted to text. His thoughts flew freely as he stepped down the sidewalk, the phone in hand, his mind set up.

'**Kudo**' was glowing in black Kanji on his message screen. Should he tell him about the clues he found on Black Organization?  
Thinking back, Kudo rarely shared information on them with him after this one time of explanation after he figured his friend out, so why should he? He thought for a second if his friend didn't trust him enough but quickly dismissed the thought, deciding.

_...I think i have to do this myself. It will help so much you may even become free again. You don't even need to trust me, the Osaka precinct has them as targets anyway._  
_Just you wait, i will show you just how much i can do._

* * *

_Another time,2 days before - Morning_

"Dad?" Heiji stepped in his father's office, waiting for a signal to come in.

"I'm here. Is something the matter?" The older man looked up from his work and gave a questioning look.

It was morning, so the blinds were half open, letting in the warm sun. The lamp on the desk was giving light on some reports filled with information in neat rubrics and lines. Past cases he solved, reports to be read.  
"I don't have all day. You either speak up or go interrupt someone else. I have enough cases i need to clean after you and Mouri made messes on the crime scenes." He said in a grim tone, cutting through the nice morning atmosphere like a blade.

Heiji knew he was an obstacle sometimes, a 'high-school detective that had no rights yet'. An amateur that just liked to find truth and work with his rival on mysteries. The happy-go-lucky chatterbox that tried to prove himself. He was always in his old man's shadow, ergo hearing all this from his lips often gave him a feeling of guilt and self-hatred.

Lately a lot of things gave him this feeling. He looked around more than before, maybe that's why._ Anyways._ He wasn't the type of person to complain about it or something, he totally understood, and so he just kept quiet about it and pushed through it in his own way. Busying his hands with his hobbies or school worked most of these times, if not the sheer hope of change someday. He looked up at his dad, fixing his reasoning again.

"I found some interesting case happening in another town, pretty near...I wanted to go there for a few days, but i need some case files from May and April that happened in following places."  
He showed his general notes up to him, the placing of old crimes leading and pointing towards someone preparing a specific place with each anomaly - "It would be great practice and since the police deemed the killer to be done and the robberies to be stopped, as training i would like to go around again."

Was _this_ enough to get him to agree?

"Hmm..." Chief of police grumbled and got up to the storage room for files.  
"I agree, but learn something about workin' without problems this time and don't leave me more half-done work,"  
He side-eyed his son to make his point. Important to remember, important to do. "so please, have fun. And report."

Hattori bowed lightly and headed to the door. "Oh, There will be some soup today for dinner, 5 p.m., Mom told me to tell ya" Heiji said happily closing the door.  
"Well, if i will get these guys before you, hopefully we can make my cases more official next time..." Heiji told himself as he walked down the hallway.

* * *

_Current time_

3 people dressed in black were passing the narrow alley, walking hurriedly and talking quietly.  
It was pretty late, about 1 a.m. or so.  
Their cases rustling at their coats and smoke coming off one of the cigarettes made a pretty sight to behold, the setting being unusually silent.  
The night was cold and a slight breeze was making trees rustle their pretty leaves. The night was dark enough to see stars and a full moon shining down on the roads, making up for all the broken lanterns in the way.

Even though there was no sun yet, the colors will be coming back quickly onto the sky in no time.

"Haven't we done enough in that area? Some people saw us last time but at the same time others offered good rare business... I kinda like it here." The mic buzzed in detective's ears, the conversation echoing. "Since we have a spot ready,we can..."  
A female voice suddenly answered over her coat. "Whatever happens we already have some good weapons on us and transport ready at almost every spot in this cursed city, so i guess no need to hurry." Another voice followed up with the conversation, agreeing.

Heiji was pretty glad and proud of this device he used to hear their conversations. Never thought it will be useful since he was aiming to be a detective not a cop or a spy, but still. He was pretty sure if he got their voices he may as well have their identity easier to deduce later.

_After a bit of work, maybe they will talk about their real hideout?- _Heiji thought. -_ ...If they even had a stable one_.

Shinichi never told him none of such things, alas only guessing and hope remained. The signal of the device required the high-schooler to move from time to time until the guys were done with their errands, eventually stopping somewhere giving him a solid location.  
It was pretty late but he was glad to be here. Glad to be helping. Being alone really made tonight easier, especially when it came to concentrating on hiding your position and listening to the info at once. Trying to focus on the conversations going back and forth and trying to pick up on anything, he focused even more.

He was _soooooo_ ready for the next few days of getting onto these goons.

"You guys are so screwed. I can't wait tah' i get yo all to pay for the crimes you committed." Heiji muttered as he went down the dimly lit street.

_..._

_..._

_..._

He didn't even notice how fast time has passed. It was basically morning, which meant he must have closed his eyes just as the sun rose up. Disadvantages of blinking, he guesses.

"Huh, that was more productive than i thought it would be. Now how is..." - The conversations were quiet for a while so he got paranoid for a second, however checking the location and everything being still active meant they haven't discovered his device or stopped where they were supposed to. Good.

The thing that happened here some other times made their move predictable enough to get close today. Since Conan always was paralyzed from fear when he had seen or heard about any of these guys or even a person who was just dressed black it seemed like a delicate task to even go near these guys - and here Hattori was, sneaking in a locator when being a safe distance away with a calm mind. It was going alright, and so Heiji put the locator down.

_...Yo may be better sometimes with the case or noticing clues on the ground with that short posture of yours, but i am still good enough to figure out the enemy._

_..._

He didn't even notice the disguised woman behind him, reaching out for his head.

* * *

_The same day, Mouri detective agency_

Loud knocking was heard throughout the place, Indicating that the person was already expected in the place. Ran got up, going towards the noise.  
"Yes yes, coming! " Ran ran down the stairs, her socks making the floor squeak. It was a wonder how the squeaking increased by about 25% when she went through, in the opposite of Mouri.  
Kudo had no idea of any guests to be expecting - only thing that wasn't ordinary today was the attention Ran paid to her cell and a few gasps she made while texting. What can he say, it was a pretty boring day. Maybe it was some other type of important stuff with her friends or some sensation on the web, like a new cool movie they may watch soon that got her attention. Honestly he would be so up for that today, just as he was done with the recent case too. _ANYTHING_ to do, sounded heavenly.

"Kazuha-chan! Come in, i will make you some tea." Ran said with tired voice, clearly preparing for a longer talk. She led her friend towards her room, stopping for a second to look back again. Turning once more, she took the cups with. Kudo took a second to understand the whole situation, deeming it ...weird. _This girl, but no Heiji? Kazuha in Tokyo,so far away from her place?_

_The...were that dried tears on her cheeks?_

_...What the hell happened?_

"Kazuha-chan, what happened?" Kudo voiced his curiosity and used his childish concern to get closer to the saddened girl. She seems so down and out of her usual energy, not even trying to answer. Kudo was starting to worry even in his teen-sort of way.  
He got a bit closer, tugging her colorful dress - hoping to get her attention this time. He asked innocently, "Where is Heiji-nii-san? Isn't he in town with you?"

Ran looked at Shinichi, effectively silencing him. _Touchy question?_  
Alright, now he was sure there was something important at play here that he had no idea about. He gotta know more.  
Before he could get his answers however, Ran took her friend into her room and closed the door, clearly not wanting to get disturbed.

"What, you think a detective lacks ways to get answers? No way! " Kudo came close to the door, determined, getting his ear ready for all the eavesdropping he could get. The conversation, apparently, started with a long and loud hug full of assurances from Ran. Honestly, half of what was said was way out of Kudo's understanding, muffled or quiet or out of context. That left one option left for him to understand all this:

Hattori.

Normally he would pass the visit of an Osakan girl, alone, to be nothing special. Ran and she are 'friends' after all - _but..._  
_This feeling..._  
_The weirdness of the situation itself...There was something not right in the air today..._

He couldn't shake off this...weird omen. The one he had with some cases or clues, where the danger was impending.

Suddenly Mouri peeked from some sort of a newspaper to check on the girls. Looking around as if checking if the coast is clear, he pointedly looked at his small apprentice.  
"Err...Ey, Kid, do you know what this is about? Should we do something?" He asked in a lightly-troubled voice. For a moment there Kudo got reminded that he wasn't the only one curious, just as he wasn't the only one worried, even if just a bit.

He wished he knew what this is about, or what to do, _but..._ "I have no idea, Uncle. Curious though."

Just as he finished answering, Ran came out of her room with empty cups she used before.  
She has a determined look on her face and so Shinichi got out of her way quickly, fearing the focused girl. The determination in her eyes, as well as her troubled expression suggested a hard obstacle to figure out. He almost asked if he can help with something but decided not to interrupt someone who knew what they were doing.

_...Well...Now i think it would be a good time for some answers from anyone._

**Hattori**  
Chat from: Today, 2:12 P.M.

-Hattori what the hell did you do

-Your friend just basically stole Ran for some emotional session or some crap and she refused telling me so how about you do.

-Could you tell me what the hell happened over there i swear i will get the answers out of you eventually

-Hattori.

-Hattori don't ignore me.

-Hattori please

-Hattori

-Hattori?

-Heiji, you there?

**...**

His hands fidgeted with his phone,impatient. _What was up?_  
His friend normally responded within minutes, even at night, yet now there isn't a word...

Kazuha is in tears, Hattori is silent, Mouri is concerned

_Something is seriously off_

* * *

_..._

"Ha, would you look at that. A fancy detective that likes sneaking around and listening to private conversations.  
Sounds kind of familiar, don't you think so?"

An unknown voice sounded, resonating through the empty room. The boy on the ground shook his head, a hateful glare sent towards the masked person before him.  
Another person fidgeted with some fancy colorful bottles on the table, glass clanking as the liquid was mixed together.

"And what's more, he is always close when that Shinichi fellow is. That leads us to some...useful outcomes... " Heiji was struggling against his chains, shaking his head and chewing on the gag in his mouth. "...especially since the dude is alive but _no one_ can find him. Who would have thought that _we_ will get such a person to torture!"

"Ya should calm down, 'High-school detective' Hattori Heiji, son of the chief of dogs of Osaka. We just have a nice thing to test on you. Being a green leaf sure is fun when you are supposed to mess with potions AND people you have on your list at once."

"If you end up lucky, you can even run to that Kudo fellow and snitch on us, if he even is alive, saying how terrible it was in here."  
The voice purred, the leather gloves handling a syringe with a big needle ready to go through human; tissue, skin, veins and muscle. Hattori heard the heavy boots getting closer to his back, step by step, syringe ready with whoever closed in on him. Ready to draw blood by simple pierce and inject the body with whatever it will absorb, the syringe touched his neck, playing with a bit of his skin.

"One thing i can say for sure, little detective. Even if you don't struggle for the process enough to tear up your veins, it will be painful enough for you to remember to never mess with someone who will enjoy it. _Hint - us._"

There was a smirk on his lips, ready to tempt their prey even more. "And if that fails, you will end up doing this 'torture' all by yourself." The members moved slightly, bantering from time to time, checking in with their documents.  
The Osaka boy was moving tensely, his wrists bruising from their bondage and his head throbbing. His thinking was going 100 miles per hour, every possible scenario running through his head. He felt thin metal of the needle heavy on his brown skin, immediately making him sweat and tremble.

There was the same line repeating over and over in his head, his instincts kicking in more energy and adrenaline he couldn't use:  
'run run run run run **run run run Run Run RUN RUN RUN**'-

Just before the the needle was about to enter his neck, he heard another quick banter. "How about some fun? You came so close to us after all. We have a cool new scientist that not only invented this cute new self-**poison** you will be testing, but also an **antidote** to the previous unfinished Apoptoxin your rumored friend was testing, right here! He does some cool stuff, i gotta admit. If you survive we may just let you fight for it, just for some melancholy, yes? Pfffha ha ha..."

Heiji's heart stilled as he listened to nothing beside the silence and rush of his own blood in his veins. The information stayed fresh in his mind, the detective remembering it all. He was in an unknown location, his plan all but almost teared to shreds, hurt all over and tired from days before._..now at the mercy of criminals that caused Shinichi and many others nothing but pain..._ Maybe it was a huge chance for him to get what he planned,but...

_He couldn't be more fucked._

The needle started injecting the liquid into him and all he could feel was pain and fire under his skin.

* * *

_Mouri's Detective Agency_

Kudo couldn't, he couldn't figure this out so it's obvious he's frustrated as all hell. Not like this never happened before but now it was just taking too long.  
_What kind of a detective couldn't figure out what happened with people he spent so much time with? It was his specialty for gods sake!_

Enough with self-pity, he was taking it all in his own hands. Time to think about the whole thing._...Let's go back to analyze the facts of what might have happened._

_'flashback'_

"Well, seems like no victory fer' me. Ya owned this case, Bro."  
Heiji was standing close enough for Kudo to hear him, slightly leaning on the wall behind him.  
It was a sunny day and all Shinichi could think about was to how to escape the sun, besides the case they just closed.  
The characteristic cap was casting a shadow over Hattori's eyes, making it hard to determine where he was looking at the time.

The case they were just investigating was pretty tough, but Kudo ended up finding the last clue. - and even though they both concluded the killer (or in this case, killers), Heiji didn't count this as his own win.

He has to say, he liked working with a detective that doesn't treat him like a kid and he can actually rely on, but _sometimes_ he thinks just how Hattori has to feel while working with him as a detective with a kid and all. He did however seem to enjoy some time with his friend, apparently, so he guesses it wasn't bad in the end.

"Come on Hattori, we aren't really competing. Besides, you did a lot, that's a tie. "

"..." Hattori looked in the direction of his small pal now, making notice of some sweat on his forehead. The wet drops were getting to his friend's eyes, the boy in question breathing in the 'way too hot' air constanlty in big gasps.  
He squatted down, lending Shinichi a tissue which he used. "I never will get that one failed case, not to mention override the tie situation. If i had known there would be no more openings to get the tie anotha' way i would have never even tried." He said as he took off his hat and placed it on his friends little head, giving him some shade for his own face.

Kudo noticed Heiji was looking down from some cases back, quickly bringing the topic an octave lower whenever conversed with. It was a recurring thing now, the more dull and less chattering Hattori making appearance. Normally he was the one brightening the situation, but lately...

...

There was a part of Shinichi that wondered if he was just maturing and all, but it didn't even seem intentional.  
"Is there something on your mind, Hattori?" Shinichi walked to stand before the dark skinned teen, expecting an answer.

Hattori looked away, avoiding Shinichi's gaze. Now **THAT'S** a bad sign in Shinichi's book. He immediately took the opportunity to stand taller and press a bit more.

"You told me i can count on you Hattori, and even though i don't say it often when we play a race to solve our cases, i hope you know you can count on me too?" He nudged his friend again giving him some confidence to open up. Hattori looked back at his friend, seeming to be searching for something in his eyes, thinking over some thought that Shinichi couldn't decipher.

"...It's nothing, Kudou. I'm just wonderin' about this one thing from a case you see. Nothing interesting, more like... complicated."

"Had to use my pathetic reasoning more than normal to make it in time. I wondered about working on it longer..." He laughed briefly, sounding almost on point but not quite. As he stood straighter and started walking on the sidewalk, passing the police taking statements from Ran and Kazuha, a message came to his phone.

Shinichi looked at the back of his friend as he walked, completely not buying his lie.  
He unconsciously touched the cap resting on his head.

...

Heiji was sitting near the shop Kazuha just went in.  
His face was glued to the screen of his phone, scrolling through with interest.

_...If i think it is what i think it is,then..._

Hattori hid the phone, letting a familiar smile onto his face. "It's something you missed, huh?" he let out under his breath.

He wasn't meant to see anything besides a teen interested in some site, but when it's Hattori...

Kudo wasn't sure he was supposed to be curious or scared.

_'end of flashbacks'_

"There is something i'm missing here, and it seems i was for a longer time." Shinichi stood in front of the door to Ran's bedroom, ready to play the role of the most weird kid ever and ask about some things he needs to know.

Like, right about _NOW_.


	3. Chapter 3-escaping and abandoning

**It's kind of all pointless,you know?**

**But i want to give ideas away,so**

**yes,i'm bored,that's all this is.**

* * *

Heiji groggily opened his eyes and felt familiar freedom between his lips after being gagged for so long.  
His whole neck hurt - his wrists were bruised and he didn't feel his fingers.  
Even though his mind was still half asleep and he had a feeling it was just some serious reserves of adrenaline he was running on,he remembered one thing.

Supposedly,the antitoxin for his friend's poison was on the table.

Supposedly he could escape if he was fast enough.

Supposedly he probably had some sort of tracker on him so better find it,take it off and get out of this place.

His feet balanced on the ground and he grabbed as much of the weird 'anti-' vials he could handle and ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

The corridors were getting narrow, or maybe his vision was playing tricks on him.  
He knew he had one objective, but all of a sudden his thoughts were going to strange directions every time he turned around a corner in the dangerous maze.

**_*you are useless*_**  
**_*what are you even doing?*_**  
**_*you never do anything right,just give up*_**  
**_*stop running*_**  
**_*no one will appreciate you,why do you even go on?*_**  
**_*give up*_**  
**_* .*_**

...Stop! Stop thinking! Hattori! Get out of there!

He reached the only open door after what felt like hours and slid down the nearest closed safe wall he could find.

* * *

*Bzzz-Bzzzt*

Repeated ring of his ringnote prayed his eyes open.  
It was past noon by the looks of it,yet he still felt tired.

*Bzzz-Bzzzt*

He blinked away the sleep and looked at the blurry caller id.  
**'Kudo'**

Immediately he went into panic mode.  
Did these guys took the number off him and tracked Kudo?  
Did he still have the anti vials with him?  
He checked his pockets frantically and the vials were still all around him.  
_Good_.

He diverted his attention to his phone again. It was definitely hard to concentrate.

*Beep*

"Hello?Hattori? Are you there?" The familiar voice of a really serious kid entered his ears.

"Shi...Nichi?" Hattori didn't even realize how hard it was to talk. "Shi..."

...

It was probably the amount of screaming he tried to achieve with the gag on that made it like this.

"Hattori?Why do you sound like that?You have a cold or something?And where exactly are you?"

You could tell Kudo was irritated. Hattori almost laughed at his angry little voice, so full of seriousness, but he wasn't in the best situation now.

He didn't trust his mind. He lost focus on the conversation and was wondering how happy his friend will be when he gets his 'medicine'. He felt like giggling,

he felt like crying,

he felt so much at the same time.

He could only croak out an even weaker,broken sound

"S...Hini...Schinich..i..." He almost smiled from relief from even saying it to his friend. Hehe,he felt so light...

The words were mixing with some other voices he didn't recognize, Kudo's voice barely making it through.

"Heiji,what's up with you? Where are you?! What happened?"

"Heiji! Heiji,Where are you right now?! "

the voices started again...  
Heiji let his hand down letting the phone hit the ground and end the conversation.

**_*No one wants you*_**  
**_*It would be better if you died here*_**  
**_*None of these vials you tried so desperately to protect will work. You aren't helping*_**  
**_*Just die here*_**  
**_*Give up*_**

The voices echoed in Heiji's mind.

His phone was ringing and vibrating again,but it wasn't enough to wake him up again this time.

* * *

Shinichi was wide eyed. His connection to Hattori was just cut off and even then he only heard his friends broken voice.  
This felt so _wrong_.  
Today's day felt so _wrong_.

The only thing he succeed in was prying some info from Kazuha that his friend didn't want to bring her around anymore since she was,  
apparently,

'too annoying'

and that he was going on a case alone.  
Was his friend in danger from that case?

and was that _only_ because he was alone?or...

He wouldn't...There was no way Heiji Hattori would lose to some trick or a criminal.

He survived a shot to the stomach,he survived falling to the ocean,hanging down a cliff,a house fire,  
he survived a bombing and even freaking jumping across a whole waterfall to safety.

There was NO way.  
It had to be something bigger.  
He dialed a number to the Professor to track him down. Now he may get to know exactly what's going on if he meets his friend. If only it wasn't too late.

* * *

Heiji woke up again,feeling a bit better. He noticed he was far away from the Black Organization hideout,near some kind of field and at the center there was a lonely wooden house,looking abandoned.

Heiji took all of the vials he stole and his items in his pocket of the battered and dirtied jacket.  
He felt like he was walking on air, voices going back and forth in his head, his focus somewhere else. He slowly felt his mind going in the right order again as he got closer to the potential safe-house. ..._If he managed to fix himself up enough to go three steps without swaying he might even play it off when he goes back!_

Wait.

Crap,the _phone call_.

Shinichi probably knows something's up.

Hell,i hope he doesn't come here.

_***But low-key i do***_

_***I want him to tell me how worthless i am***_

_***I'm only getting in the way***_

_***I'm not needed here...***_

Even if he plays it off,he will never get Kudo off his back.

Whatever,he went for all of this shit just for this dude to go back to normal.  
If he was important enough,it won't be a problem.

He got closer to the door, feeling steady enough to enter the house. He needed it right now,  
besides-the house didn't have an owner by the looks of it.

Once he is inside he will take a look at these vials and see if any of them resemble an anti-toxin for Shinichi.

Yup,sounds like a plan.

He stood for few minutes, pulling his weight onto the wall and then sliding down feeling his skin burning again.

"This again..." He grabbed at his jacket,clenching his fists and making himself as small as possible.  
Whatever they used on him was apparently effective.

Well,at least he didn't end up like Kudou.

_***It will only get worse you know***_

_***Just die and give up***_

_***You are worthless,Hattori***_

The voices resonated louder in his mind,bringing both a headache and waves of pain.

_...It's ok,just need to wait it out and give my friend all these._

He will wait as long as he needs to.


	4. Chapter 4-Understanding

**So as everyone can see i am no good when it comes to drama**

**or getting characters correctly**

**I am actually just making a way from burning coal towards a field of cotton candy**

**that's exactly what my boredom makes me do**

* * *

The girls were sitting in the living room, chatting idly with smiles on their faces.

Apparently, Kazuha-chan asked Ran about her character and what she can do to make friendships last longer. Now, practicing her new attitude on Ran's dad wasn't part of the whole teaching process - but guess what -

"Alright, Osakan girl, i can be your friend." - Mouri finally said to the lady before him, watching her growing smile and his daughter giving him a 'thumb's up' from behind.

He never thought teenagers can change attitudes that quickly by gaining friends and learning a few jokes.

_...Thinking about jokes, where is this little dude Conan?_

Mouri hadn't seen him going out of the office but he was sure he was here just a while ago... so there was no reason for him to not be here...

Well, in the end he deduced that the most likely possibility was that the little kid was on some of these adventures with detective boys again. He does disappear for them sometimes, so it's not even worrisome anymore.

Weird kid.

* * *

Kudo held his phone with his shoulder while clutching and turning his map in his hands.

The map was showing the city Hattori supposedly was in, as Agasa just happened to have one of them laying around. When the phone emitted sound again, old professor's voice gave the boy directions yet again, which Kudo followed. Agasa's voice buzzed with "His phone is most probably near the field and the alley just behind that store" and as Kudo followed, he looked for a more exact place Hattori may have stayed in.

Normally going after a case, there was police all around and it was Kudo who visited his friend.

Normally if it was an investigation, he would see his friend looking for clues or a few passer-bys frozen looking.

This time however it didn't seem like any of those was happening, and that made Shinichi's job a bit harder.

_huh._

That meant that his conclusion from earlier was correct. The way Heiji sounded while on the phone... His broken voice indicated a state that would prevent Heiji being his normal-acting and energetic-detective self.

Shinichi had a feeling he was hurt or in danger - so he must have looked for a safe place more than fun this time, which would suggest some space to recover. Whatever business the detective had in leaving his talisman-girl-friend over and not telling Shinichi _anything_ must have been something big and overwhelming enough to make him go alone and not prepared.

On the way, Kudo started wondering what was this all about. Trying to piece the puzzle together proved unsuccessful in the end, but that did not make his theories go away. There was too many gaps that his friend will have to fill him on before his deduction would even get the _chance_ of being true.

The only thing on Kudo's mind that would leave his friend in a bad state when he could barely talk...

No... he couldn't even think about it in such way.

...

_...Still, did Hattori lose his trust in him and that's why he went alone? Was that why he was so distant last time? Because if not for the lack of trust or sheer unwillingness to accept help from him, why didn't he say **anything**? - Was there a reason he answered a call from Shinichi and not anyone else?_

"Kudo! ...Hey, Kudo! This is the area your friend's cell is. Hopefully with the owner attached. Let me know how it went, alright?" The professor asked, equally curious and urgent.

"Y-yes, i will." - he took the map in one hand, hanging up the phone and putting it back in his pocket. Checking if he had all of his gadgets in case of emergency or danger on him, he found them present. After that, he looked around the destined area his informator had told him about, and started thinking. His eyes landed on a small house that didn't seem to have an owner, a perfect place for escape from curious gazes.

**Bingo.**

At least, the detective of the east hoped so, his instincts telling him to check there first. The house looked unprotected, completely devoid of any outstanding qualities besides a lack of a nameplate in front. The gates weren't locked, and the pavement looked dirty save for a few places.

Perfect for an easily accessible hiding spot!

He had no idea why Hattori would visit this town, or maybe this house, or what he was searching for initially - but one thing was clear. He was about to get all his answers. ... Too bad it wouldn't go as smoothly as he expected it to go.

* * *

His small hands twisted the doorknob which opened softly. He readied his watch with sleeping darts just in case, as the years had made him wary and more cautious.

The insides of the house were pretty bright, lit by not yet hidden sun, reflecting off the nice pale-ish colors and light leather furniture. There was some dust on the items around but not enough for it to be abandoned for longer than a month. Perhaps it was just barely getting winded before being sold or someone is planning to use this house as a spare?

Shinichi still had no idea what to think about it all and hoped his friend wasn't just pulling a prank on him, making him believe the situation was dire. Not so long ago he pulled a similar joke, but it was way more funny and less disturbing.

As he checked his surroundings, he assumed the house looked safe. Upon closer inspection for clues he didn't notice anything bloodied or any signs of struggle or fight. What struck his attention were sharp objects scattered on the table and a few torn bandages, some rolling on the ground.

_What the... _

He was just turning around the corner when-

"**-WoaAHH!**" Kudo jumped as the familiar figure of his tall friend stood just above him, apparently turning a corner.

Hattori himself flinched strongly, looking at Shinichi with a surprised gaze.

_...**WAh**, oh, he didn't expect me to come **here** to help out, no wonder we both startled each other... but wait, i'm here to get some answers, not explain the most basic of behaviors to myself! - _Shinichi continued staring at his friend for a good few seconds before they both moved to action.

"Hattori!"

"Kudo! Sorry, didn't really - uh, expect you. Yo' alright? Ya got startled pretty hard! "

Kudo just stared at his friend, calming down for a second before filling up with anger. Hattori looked playful - "Don't blame me tho', wasn't my choice ta have startlin' abilities... and you aren't exactly easy to notice... " Kudo halted him-

"You ask **me** if i'm alright?! Ugh, when i called you couldn't even say my name, i thought someone was killing you, Heiji ! " At some point Kudo stood up at his toes, trying to appear menacing.

Heiji looked at the ground briefly, making a slight pause in the sea of accusations Shinichi was currently drowning him in. _Again._

_*_**See? How cute, he even got angry... ***

Hesitating, Heiji chuckled jokingly ... yet_ humorlessly_. Looking away from his rival, he successfully avoided a look of confusion being thrown at him.

"Heh... Well ya may be onto something there actually. No matter, i have a clue i have to show yah..."

_...What does he mean? and...Wait...Now that i look at him more closely..._

Shinichi took a while to make some more observations about his friend's state.

His clothes were dirty and torn in some places, there was a lot of bruising near his hands and some on his chest, same with cuts. His usual brown skin was slightly more pale and sweaty, his eyes more dull and blue than his normal focused gaze. He looked pretty much at his last legs, trembling and swaying from time to time. It took Kudo less than a second to figure out the worst case scenario.

Smaller detective came closer to his friend, stopping his babbling and extending a hand to check some of his injuries. - "Are you alright? Did someone attack you?" - he tried to touch Hattori's wrist but the Osakan took a step back.

"I am alright, yah don't have to see anything. I shouldn't have made you come here anyway." After that, he put his hands innocently forward making a sheepish face, proving a point. _Weird._

"What?"

Heiji then spoke once more;

_"I guess i will just ask ya for forgiveness for my inability to talk and making you worry. I didn't mean...-"_

Hattori lost his focus for a split second, bringing a hand towards his head lightly. Kudo's attention shifted faster than lightning, immediately getting more alert.

\- "Hattori? What's going on?" He asked, but his friend was too busy catching himself from toppling over to answer.

He balanced his stance just as he was about to hit the wall, shaking his head as if to clear it. Shinichi looked at him with concern and caution, now fully focused on his friend's condition, hands unconsciously outstretched for assistance.

He was concerned for his friend and _that made him want answers even more._

"Sorry."

As the detective of the east tried to help, Heiji still seemed very closed off towards him.

"What's going on with you? You look pale. Actually i'm surprised you are still standing on these shaking legs." Reaching out even more, trying to appear as peaceful as possible, Kudo lowered his voice, "Here, just let me help you."

Shinichi started again after a second of hesitation, again coaxing Hattori with "Relax a bit, i only want to help."

Hattori looked hesitant for a second but took Kudo's hand for assistance. As he let his friend guide him to the pale-colored couch unsteadily, his legs pretty much going completely slack by the end of their journey, he lost his facade and looked plain tired.

"How about you tell me what this is all about once you feel better?" Kudo asked in gentle and cautious tone. Seeing his friend about to respond, he quickly added: "And don't lie to me. You need more time to feel better, not just half a minute on this old couch."

Hattori looked back towards the ground, letting out a tired sigh.

"..."

They sat in silence for a while, the only noise in the room being wind outside and their breathing. Meanwhile, Shinichi still did not let go of the darker-skinned boy's hand, keeping them close.

_ 'He looks just about ready to drift off or fall asleep' - _He thought while having a closer look at the state of Heiji's body. He knew exhaustion when he saw it, just as well as he knew when his friend was hiding something important. _H__is clothes look... and all of the dirt and blood... how did that happen?_

And then, the detective of the west said something that shook Kudo to the core.

\- " It's kinda embarrassing to say how exactly, but long story short, i may have an **_antidote_** for yer' poison. "

Heiji stopped right after this, pointedly looking at the place he was standing before Kudo came in. On the counter, over 16 small vials with various labels lay down in a row, all different in colors and structure.

"Wh... _What?_ How?!" Shinichi pointed his gaze at his friend with urgency, making the Osakan flinch softly from surprise.

"I hope at least one of them works. These guys told me where it lay, i took as many as i could. Please, have your friend check them in the lab. There... is a _small chance_."

"No, wait Hattori. _How did you get them in the first place?!_ And don't tell me these guys were..."

"They were, Kudo. Who else would dip into yer' poison?"

"T- There is no way you found them! How are you even **alive **after that? Why... wait... Why didn't you _say something_?! Do you know how **dangerous** they can be?! You could have **died** and i would never even _know_ the fucking cause! Why... "

Hattori looked sharply away, momentarily ashamed.

***Look what you did, look how useless it is.***

* * *

Shinichi was yelling at him for some time now. Random stress words, confusion and horror spilling out from his mouth. He was afraid that if he let himself hope, if he believed there was an antidote in these vials, he would have that hope ripped away along with his sanity.

He held Hattori's hand closer, tensed from the whole conversation. The bruising on his wrist caused his friend to wince a little but other than that his face was impassive, taking in all of his little friend's confusion and fury. Drifting in and out of it, the Osakan boy was just lazily looking at his rival, cushioning his slight slip of character. Shinichi caught onto this quicker than expected, stopping his sharp words.

He reverted back into his earlier state, careful and uncertain, looking at the hand he was griping just a second ago and then upwards towards Hattori. "Hey, hey, are you listening?"

When the small detective looked at him, the piercing gaze kept him grounded.

"Look, tha agency left a couple of new people to cause trouble around. They just... happened ta' tell me where these were."

"If it works on you..." Heiji started and took some deep breaths. Kudo stood.

"If it works on you, it would make you free again." Hattori tried to point towards the vials but couldn't really lift his hand half way. He gave up and chuckled again, empty laugh making him want to cry, light filling his thoughts. "It's so pointless... maybe **it**_ really_ tells the truth... did i fail again? " Once more, Heiji muttered to no one.

Many things were going through Shinichi's mind right now. The most alarming one was the very weird and incomplete words his friend was trying to say, leading to the second most alarming one being Heiji's overall state.

These injuries and this weird way of behaving his friend was showing wasn't looking normal. It was almost absent now, so not-like him, even if he _was_ injured.

_I mean, he would know, since he saw his friend in worse states already._

There was a lot of things to process and even more to gather. Kudo made up his mind, not staying without a plan for long, and started looking over his friend seriously this time - and seeing exactly what needed _any_ medical attention at the moment.

"Let's talk about these-" he pointed at the vials at the counter "-later. You don't sound like yourself at the moment and i will need to know what to tend in the meanwhile."

He took his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt a little as a stress reliever. "I will hear about all of it straight from you later, though." He turned. "You will tell me what they did, and then we will talk about your investigation." Hattori stared at him for a moment, unblinking and unseeing the detective he had before his eyes. Silence followed.

"For now, just let me help you."


	5. Chapter 5-Many voices and one helper

**I hope you remember that this story can be adopted or finished by whoever wants it?**

**if i ever write again feel free to just take it as well**

**It would make me happy if someone more capable would write some better stuff you know?**

* * *

_...This is a problem._\- Shinichi was thinking while standing before his weird-acting friend. This whole thing - his actions or thinking... they simply weren't like him.

He really needed to get to the bottom of this and fast. Too bad all he could get out of him so far was silence or silent muttering of random self-hate from Heiji - Which is, in on itself, **weird. **

_It never happened before, did it? _Especially when it comes to individuals with Heiji's personality and story. Kudo knew one thing for sure: This was not only unnatural but possibly dangerous. Whatever happened, it was not only major, but also requiring Kudo to take it slower and more carefully than normal. Now however, he needed to focus on healing up his detective friend.

Since Hattori was so closed off about what the Black Organization has done to him besides what Kudo could already figure out from the bruises, there really was no other way than to deduce and get information by evidence.

_Boy_, was the young detective so up for this challenge.

* * *

"So the plan is in motion, you say?" The masculine man came towards his talking parter, his gruff voice slightly uncertain.

"Yes. I believe it will be even faster if he succeeded and can create guilt or determination in his friend after the deed - That's what the boss said, i think - and honestly, i agree."

"Was it really worth it? The antidote and all, they could not fall into this you know, this effort going to waste an' stuff."

"But they **did** fall into it from the looks of it. Don't forget the one we had is more needed to capture that other hindrance while it also annoyingly tries to capture us. It's going okay, so just chill! We are out of trouble as long as we get out of here without any trace."

"Still-"

"It does not matter now anyway, your doubt doesn't. You know this plan was created specially for him. You have an idea, talk to the one that planned all of this in the first place. Leave me out of it."

"... If you say so. I... let's just get going quickly."

"Listen, we have him more than before. You gotta give credit to the strategist here since both knowledge and hate of the subject was all advantage-"

"Alright, just drop it already."

Suddenly a crushing noise was heard, snapping the two to attention.

"What was that?"

"Intruders! How the hell there is more people coming here now? And so fast too!"

"Let's just check it out, it may as well be some cat or dog from the streets..."

"I don't even like this place. Stupid base, stupid disturbances, stupid plans... and you."

"Hey! Come on now."

They took off in a fast walk towards the thrown boxes and messy documents. There was some coffee spilled from a cup that was previously sitting on the boxes, making an ugly puddle on the floor.

One of the guys took out his gun, just in case, as he guarded his partner while they looked around the mess. It was about to rain, dark clouds gathering and threatening to pour on the streets just as the sun was hiding, taking away all of the light with it. The boxes were put back in place by the criminals the fist drop of rain landed on the roof, echoing a soft sound that guided many more. Dark coats once again matched the mood of their owners.

They didn't notice a bit of a fluttering white cape behind them in their haste.

* * *

"...So since 'nothing much' happened in BO hideout, how about i give you some time to recover and then you will tell me? Sorry Hattori, but i fear you are skipping over something major, for whatever reasons - and i just... know you well enough to know when something's up."

"Kudo..."

"Don't you worry, i am patient. Although if there is some imminent danger, not so much. - Now, i do have a few ideas, but i don't want to go too forward..."

Heiji just turned away, both tired and embarrassed that Kudo caught onto his state after all. He was supposed to play it off, not almost collapse like a hurt animal! He shouldn't have seen him in such a state.

**-*****Was that Kudo's worrying...? How pathetic...*- **a voice echoed, almost sounding amused.

It took a while of focus, but his reply followed soon after.

"Antidotes."

A beat, and then, "What?"

"I put them on the counter, each has a different name on it. I figure _maybe_ it would have the name of the toxin on it but i couldn't remember it, so i just hurried and grabbed whatever." He stood up slowly trying to get to the vials in question to show his short friend, but... _Not sure if standing when your legs are shaking is a good idea, Hattori._

"You really won't leave these antidotes alone, will you?" Kudo rolled his eyes and stood up, alert.

Shinichi almost instinctively extended his hands towards him when Heiji faltered, ready to offer any small support if something were to happened again. His mind though, that was _racing _with thoughts and predictions about a completely different matter. Hattori went towards the counter without any accidents this time however, taking a few vials to examine closely. Reading and turning to Kudo, he continued, "So tha vials names are mostly letters and numbers and even if we found the name i would recommend giving it to Haibara or your old friendly doc to check first. It needs to... - safe...no harm..."-

He took the vials and kneeled down (or fell on his knees, basically) for Kudo to see. His miniature friend's surprised face didn't stop him from continuing his explanation, now desperately needed. There, among some other similar names was his cursed venom name, dreaded _'APTX 4869'. _

Kudo's eyes widened and he took it with cautiousness even bigger than the one he used when handling his case evidence, filled with awe.

_...Amazing..._

The fluid within the precious vial was vibrant blue, leaving small trials on glass. For a second, Kudo was filled with so much hope he could barely contain it. Holding his breath he looked back at Hattori, who looked apologetic. He knew what this meant. Hell, he knew that Kudo knew that he knew and that Kudo knew he knew too. This could mean either a big miracle, or his hope breaking forever. It seemed impossible that after so much time there was a solution, just like that. Again, he started - "Kudo... I... i hope it works."

He again avoided looking at him. - "If this isn't it...i don't want you to lose that hope... It would all be my fault, looking at you now... I..." He tried to get off his knees, leaving Conan undecided, walking sluggishly back to his place near the couch. He made it half way, having Conan back again at his side not long after, a small tear running down his cheek.

Hattori couldn't register much after that though, as he fell asleep as fast as his head hit the couch cushions again.

* * *

_-Unknown location, 8:10_

Kaito wasn't exactly planning on infiltrating Black Organization on **this** exact day but... well... They left a few clues he was willing to follow when they were still fresh. He has enough access to the police to know when something isn't right, especially when the culprit is only under the description of "black clothed human" and "unknown" for more than 4 cases. Not that he had a mountain of time to spare just to investigate, or something - The thing though was that he heard the members talk about Kudo and Heiji of all people.

Not gonna lie, he was also a little intrigued when 'poison' and 'antidote' was mentioned by the black clothed members. From what he heard and saw them doing, they had a plan to lure someone for an antidote of some sort, or maybe-small-chance the _right_ one?

They had to sacrifice something but they still had a plan afterwards? It seemed? _What?_

He, of course, wasn't the one who had rad detective skills. Instead, he planned to talk to his little 'cousin Conan' about this stuff if just because of simple respect and will to help out, also planning ahead and observing where the guys will be for the next span of time. The place looked like a temporary hideout anyway with only a few members - who didn't even look satisfied with this huge place - so the info about that is most valuable. This might be a chance. A chance to get these guys one by one.

"Seems like i will help you out a little again, _shrunken_ _detective_."


	6. Chapter 6-Testing the words

**Most of the sentences were changed/repaired and may take a while to read correctly.**

**What can i say, it's kinda bad that this site eats my words**

**Wondering if this will work while also trying to ****remember**

* * *

**This story can be continued differently from pretty much any point**

**so anybody could change it if they wanted**

* * *

_..._They started off kinda rocky. One wanted to test himself and to find an equal while the other was just being curious, maybe in need. They understood each other, even though someone needed to accept failure before the other.

If you can't beat someone just make them your pal, learn, have a good time... No matter what sacrifices it took, suffering through that is what one of them did.

Maybe Heiji kinda put himself as Kudo's friend... but still you could say they got to a point of very synchronized teamwork. Does not matter that it was from one side most of the time.

The other will realize, letting it fall... or will decide to leave it behind standing taller and further than ever.

* * *

"I did spend a lot of time trying to get to him, explain better, since i talked too much. I guess his case took over though so i couldn't do nothin'. Hoping i can make it a joke, n' we can forget - but never got tha chance to. Now i see tah' it wouldn't be enough even if i did." - Kazuha went through the halls of the mall, talking to Ran once again.

"I wish i could joke with Kudo more often..."-The following girl added absentmindedly. Kazuha eyed her with amusement.

It grabbed the Osakan's attention, the spaced-out look on Ran. She nudged her arm, smiling. "There will be plenty of occasions, don't ya worry! You would never make the mistakes i did." She assured.

Ran looked at her softly, a bit of bravery developing in her eyes. She was just about to answer, but right then a sound sounded.

***Ding Ding***

_And no, it was not the sound of Ran's confidence increasing, but a phone jingle._

"Oh, what's tha' about?" Kazuha looked at her phone for a second, seeing a new message filled with weird symbols. Unknown number?

"Huh", Ran looked over her friend's shoulder - "Maybe... I don't know, send it to Hattori-kun to decipher? Maybe it's just some glitched spam or advertisement. Oh! if he is still on a case, how about asking my Shinichi?" She added.

"Good Ide-" Kazuha turned slowly. " _Your_ Shinichi? "

Her smile was sly and wide at the same time, sending her friend into blushing. "NO NO NO, I MEANT-" She started, but Kazuha laughed loudly at her friend's embarrassment. - "MY DETECTIVE-CHILDHOOD-FRIEND-Oh NOoooo, LiKE, LIKE YOURS! Kazuha stop laughing!" But her giggles continued as she got Ran into a Head-lock. "I get it, i will send it to 'em if you want. Your face though? Priceless."

Ran squinted, but laughed lightly after a second of looking at Kazuha's knowing face before her. She huffed, "If it's important though i would like to hear Shinichi's opinion. Actually, who do you think will figure it out first? Let's make it a race."

"Sure, pfff, i will take your advice if ya let me buy you some dinner. I have not laughed that hard since like a month! " The girl smiled again, feeling way better than yesterday.

..._The presence of a good friend is really nice indeed. I only hope i can come back to that level with Hattori someday... Now however..._

They headed off towards the best food joint, passing lights from the titles shining and many decorated trees on their way - big shopping plans and a promise of good dinner waited as people smiled looking at them. Ran smiled wide, too.

* * *

_Empty house, A little after sunset-_

Kudo skated towards old Agasa's lab in high speed, vial secured to show him later. He has to admit, he wasn't so keen on leaving the house (and his self-proclaimed friend) at first, but let's just say he plans to go back real fast. Extremely fast. Absolutely embodying speed. 100% acceleration. Total zoom.

For now though, it's was the safest to leave Hattori in there instead of dragging him along with rain threatening to fall from the sunless sky. At night, no less.

He was gambling on this one, but he believed he made the right decision. He wasn't even sure if they would actually get to the lab with Heiji in this state anyway so it still seemed less risky, right?

_...Who am i even explaining myself to?_ \- Kudo thought once more.

_flashback_

"Let me search the house for some bandages, i can tell you need some. Wait for me here - don't move." Kudo climbed down the couch, not noticing (or caring) that his friend was already asleep, continuing his monologue.

"...and, Heiji? Thanks. Even if it fails, just..." Kudo looked back, a weird feeling tugging on his mind. He didn't recognize it, and yet it felt simple. Just a look at the sleeping Osakan's face, his obvious tiredness and weakness he would never show in any other situation stirred something within, obviously some ... important feeling. 

Not even his deduction skills can help with identifying what he currently felt, but for now he has to name it 'concern' - if just for the amount of bruises Conan couldn't look at without feeling bad. 

Being worried about his physiological state is one thing, but...

He blinked, noticing that the eyes he wanted to be open and happy were hazy and saddened instead.

_The feeling persisted._

Shinichi walked through the house and, after a while, distracted himself by looking around for any medikits and scavenging the shelves. He found some useful things left over that were still usable and went downstairs to apply them with determination. Also _properly,_ since his partner tried but failed before. Walking towards the couch and getting to Hattori's height, even though a little awkwardly in his small height in comparison, Shinichi looked Heiji over. 

As he got to the point of the injuries he started slowly preparing the materials for each one, thinking about today's events.

Shinichi moved slowly and carefully while taking off the clothes off of his friend at the bloodied sites. Heiji's shoulder was heavily bruised, an idea already forming in Kudo's head as he saw the central point of the bleeding. _An injection site...?_ it looks like it was caused by a lot of struggle and an injection itself. _Sedation?_ After cleaning it and putting some bandages on it, he moved to the wrists.

_...Most likely he has been pulling too hard on his handcuffs when trying to get away...in the worst case..._

He wrapped them gently, carefully looking if it wasn't too tightly tied. There was one more small thing left being the cuts randomly dispersed on the skin. Some looked fresher than the others. _Another round of torture or escape wounds?_

..._Hm..._

Shinichi opened a box of medical band-aids and a gauze to disinfect all of the smaller and bigger openings.

He did this in absolute silence, focused fully on his work. He was quietly wondering if he would hurt Heiji's feelings that way, ignoring him and all, but decided it was okay with him asleep. After-all, at this time the awake Heiji and asleep Heiji were vastly different.

Still... He shared his care by just sometimes gently shaking him by the arm reminding him of his attention rather than anything more exciting that could wake him. That was a nice compromise, right?

Kudo briefly smiled.

Maybe he wasn't good at social skills, but he knew how to give assurance sometimes - occasionally, how to handle Heiji and people he holds important. Well, sure, it never was that_ his jokes and banter wasn't enough, _and normally he was ok with holding conversations to make investigating stuff better, but it wasn't one of these easier, good times. 

It also wasn't like he was getting stared at with some malice that he knew how to handle, or anything witty that he could deflect, or something crime related, or...

In short, he was just testing how he can handle this new territory.

...

...

_Heiji would be better at this if our roles were switched. And they were a few times. He was the one that covered for me when i was needed, helped when he could, talked to me to cheer me up... How does he do it all, anyway? _-That basically went through his head as he was bandaging every injury he saw while holding Hattori's hands out for him to inspect.

Since that, the detective of the east was almost done. With most problems taken care of and patched up, he prepared his last band-aid to put on Hattori's cheek. 

Trust needed to be high if the latter managed to fall asleep next to him, in a abandoned house no less, so why all the hiding?

...

_...Since he is asleep and recovering and i am close by the base, if i take the vials to analyze on my skateboard it takes less than 15 minutes to go back afterwards! I don't think anything will happen... If BO wanted him dead we wouldn't be here right now...Though...man, do i..._

-end of flashback-

-?

"Professor Agasa!" "Ai!" Shinichi yelled for the only two helpful scientists he could count on.

"Shinichi! How did it go? Everything was fine?" Professor asked his small friend. From the look of it he was just stress-browsing the net ever since the call. He has to admit, it flew out of his head that the professor wanted an update to calm his mind. Shinichi felt guilty momentarily but quickly got back to business.

"The thing i will tell you and give you may be the biggest break-through with the poison so far!" _was he excited?_ "...Or not. We will see. I... hope it is, though."

The old man's eyes widened, looking curiously at the boy. "And is _everybody_ alright?" He asked, standing up.

_...Right, i forget that i literally demanded tracking of Heiji's phone out of the blue with possibly horrified expression on my face. Oopsss._

"Yes, but i will have to ask you for assistance later, doct-"

"What is going on?" Haibara appeared from behind a door, her eyes focusing on Shinichi. _Was he too loud? Damn, Kudo must be exited. -_ The small detective huffed a bit and decided to just show it rather than explain. It would take too long if they all just cared about the wrong things.

"Check this, please." He said as the vial was out and held gently by his hand for them to see. They both looked at it at the same time, blinked, and looked back up at him.

There wasn't even a second passing and both of them immediately asked a lot of questions, their gazes and movements rapid as they quickly checked the formula of the liquid. Shinichi could actually get confused just by looking at them move in every direction, but was happy on the inside that they wanted to help him that much and _this fast_.

"Erm, guys, i appreciate it but ... i will get going now. I have something to go back to but contact me as soon as you get anything, ok?" Just as he finished-

"DON'T YOU DARE MOVE KUDO SHINICHI." Ai shouted from over her seat. _Ouch. Rare._ "YOU ARE GOING TO TELL US EVERYTHING." Professor Agasa was joining in now.

"But_\- But guys_\- "

"NO!"

_Dammit. I guess i will be helping even more people today. I mean,_ _it's very important,? so i need to stay,? and technically nothing will happen to him when i get things covered here..._

_It can be a breakthrough, after all. A chance... Finally..._

_let's do this._

* * *

***You know you should die, right?***

***Come on, you can at least do that, right?***

***We won't let you go, we won't be quiet, never ever never***

***Hey,Hattori...***

**j?"?°?~?~?^?°^?_?_?_?u?¨?"~?¸?_?_?_?¸?_s?~?"?¨?¨¯?´?´?`?``?_?t?"?~?¸?¸? ?~?¯¯?^?_?d?^?¨?^?¯?^?¨?¨~?¯?`?¸?̵̡̡̦͉̼̟̯̱̹̻̼͔͚͈̖͒̏̈͛̕͝?̸̢̬͎͑̄?̷͇͂̀?̴̢͙̜͍̳̠̖̲̝̠̗̦͐͗̓̎͊̈́͂̏̄̕͠͝?̶̧̪̖̠͉̯͑͜͜?̴̧̼͓͉͙̥͔̰͍͇͓̰̼̞̇̓́̓̑͐͆̉̓?̸͙̞̬̳̘͕̥͔̣̳̳̏?̶̛̮̣͉̓͒̋̎̍͆̄̇̑͋͝͝͠?̵̹͖̼͉̞̤̘̭̜͇̝̮͐̍͌̋͗̚?̶̧̳͇͕̻̳͕͈̼̃?̵̡̝̮͉͎̬̜͓̽̈̅͆̓͆̆͆̿̏͝?̴͈͉̙̲̾̈́̉̇̊͋̾͆̈͗͑̚̚_̷̛̥̜̠̬̞̹̠̹͑̑͒̑͂̽̀̋̇́͆͘͠ͅ?̸̡͎͓̯͇̰͍̼̞̲̱̀̒̓̈́̀͌̚?̷̯̃ͅ?̸̨̮͇̝͙̙̤̰͎͛͂̅̔̑̔͌̕͝ͅ?̸̛̲͗̉̽͆̆̄̍?̶̖̼̯̳̳̞̔̅͂́̒͗̍́͊̂̈̃̊͗͠?̸̨̡̹̳͎̋̊̊̋̐̆̈́̔̉͑̆͐̊̌̌?̸̗̻̱̞̻͑̑͗́͗̽͛̅́͜͝?̷̨̧̡̩̗͇̥̟̻͓͓͚̮̑̆̔̿͂̀̏͝͝?̸̢̪̟͚̯̼̾̎̋͂͋̔̈́̚͘͝͠?̵̪̞̘͚̭̹́̀?̵̰̗̜̊̾̒̽̀͘?̴̛̠̠͕͚͓̙͔͊̐́̍̈́̓͒͗̅̕͝?̷̧̧̧̤̗͔̩͙̺̪̰͓̗̤͂͗͒̔̀̓̾̋̌́̈̌̚͘?̷̛͔̬̺̤̦̱̍͗̚ͅ?̴͉̮̜̖̹̝̰̬̗̔̂̄̔͊̑̏͐̌͑̆̀̇̈͑ͅ_̵̧̛͎͌͑͝?̷̢̝̙̮̮͚͉͎̙͒̍̈́̑͘͜͜͝͠͠ͅ?̷̛͈̝̹̝͔̥̙͕̺̺̠̯̼̒̃̑̏̀̊̈͘ͅ?̶̧̗͙̼̠͇͖̐̏̂͒̄̽̓͑̑͘͘̚̚̚͝?̴̩̓̀?̸̡͙̤͈̜̤̞̩͇̳͎̜̰̿̿̿̃̉͐̽̉͂?̷̢͔̭̦̺̹̙̅̾͝?̷̩̪̇̂̇̓̾̈́̔?̶̯͖̍͂̐͗̈́?̷̢̬͈̥̎̌̚͝͝_̶̠̅̈́̿́͗̿͋͘̕͠͝?̶̢̧̖̠̰̠̬̜͎̈̂͜ȉ̷͇̰͙͈̬͕̻̗̻͈͓͋̃͠?̸̙̩̫̯͇̣̤̽̀͗̿͑͂̿̊̂̇͆͝͠?̵̯̩̠̥̗͉́͂̈̊͛̚°̴̛̲̻͖̞̝̝͎̮͎͙̳͇̻̏̇̓͆̓̆̈́̉̈́̂͝͠?̷͖̹̩̭̝̊͋͌̎̽͠?̴̧̫̗͈̖̮̭̙͉̳͎͕̯̊̾̎̂̀̑̒͋̈́̈̀̒̍̆͜^̷̫͇̹̣͍͇̭̤́́̋̐̑̑̔̀̐?̶̖̙̥̟̟͔̥̑͆̈?̸͇̬̳͔̻̫͒̃̒̂̓͘̚͝?̴̼͇̬̰̎͂̿͊̍?̷͙͖̻̳̘̟̿͒̒̿́͗̾͒̀͐͛͑̕͜͝ͅ?̷̮̹͔̗͇̲̘̰̂̇́ͅ?̶͉̠̙̥̳̣̖̮̓͊̃̉͜ͅ?̷̡͔̺̲̗̼̀̿̆̎̏̓̈́́̋́͆̊̌̑͘?̸̢̻͙͚̣̩̖̳̟̩͕̻́̀́̑́̍͆́̚͘̚͝?̷̘́̓̀̉̓̅̏̈́͌̅̇́?̴̢̜͖̘͈͔͕͚̣͎̙̲̬͙͂͝?̴̧̙͕̩̰̲͉̟̠̻̞͇͆̇͂͛̃̄̐̽͋̋̄̕͠͠͠?̵̡͇̺̩̜̎̅̃̀̐?̵̨̙̟̪͚̥̘̻̑͌̃̊͑͆̇̀́͐̔́́͆̊?̸̧̤̫̗͖͓̃̿ͅ?̷̧̛͖̳͚̗̳̣̒̾̽̐̈́͗̽̌͛̚͝ͅ~̴̼̪̦̑̉́̽̿̄̍̆͑̄́͑̏͝?̸̨̜̜̬̳͈͕͔̪̿̌̋̔̀̂͝?̷̛̳̞̫͖̼͉̗̝̞̩̑̀̿͋͋̄̏̾̿?̸̢̛̱͔̳̫͓͉͚̿̈́̒̂̿̐̾̔͐̿̕͝?̶͉͕̰̂͛̋̿̾͒̾̇̃͛̏̕͝?̸̨̱͉͖̣̭̝͔̔̀͜͝?̴̨̲̻̲͍̱̮̰͔̟̼̬͋͌̋̔̀͘?̵̧̡̻̜͇͕͍̤͚̗̞̪͙̬̼̉̅̈́̃̓̔͝͠?̴̡̬͈̪͍̠̙͙̊͗͂̂̄̑̚̚?̸̧̨͖̭̙͓̓͂̀̽̽̄̉͊̃̍̑̔͘͜͝͝?̷̱͎̝͕͔͈̟̳̣̹͈̮͍̹̘͠?̴̧͇͍̹̎̽̆̀̈́̀̈́͛͗̈́͗͠͝͝?̷̡̧̙̮̳̺̮͙̰̩̬̘͔̏̆̌̎̏͝?̶̧͕̬͙̮̉̈́͘?̸̢̧̥̳̠̰̝̘̺͈̲̹̾͌̉̾̍͂̔̐̾́̒?̶͍̩̲̱͓̥̥̖̣͔̫̐̅̎̌̅̚ͅ?̶̣̪͐̈́̍̃̂͆̿̌̐͗͆̂͜?̷̢̰̘͕͔͎̘͈̱́͜_̶̨͖̗͓̺̯̞͔̘̮̺̂́ͅ?̸̧̥̯̙̺̖̮͖̲̻̲͊͘?̷̢͈̪͍̲̘̲̯̩͒̂̿͗͋̌̚͝?̵̗̱̲̘͉̥͎̤̽̈́̀̉̋͒̎̏͌͊̍͜?̷̢̨͙̭̹̭̯̣̭̩̳̰͕͕̙̈́͊̏̏̆̊̇̿̈̉͆̕?̴̡̪͎̼̤̞̟̬͓͈͆̋͊ͅ¸̵̛̪̺̔̇̀͐͛?̷̟̺̼̱̭̰͔͔͕̿ͅ?̵̨̧̛̯̙͍̳̦͕̖̙͕̩̳̰̤͋͑́̉́̉?̶̹̿͒͒͌̒̎̍̏͒̍̂͊_̶͇͚̱̗̞̦̖̼̱͆̈́̅͗̉̒̽̍͒̃̄͝ͅ_̵̧̡̧̞͇̮̦̫͚̺͎̮̦̞̌?̶̡̛͇͍̖͖̠͓̖͓̳̇͌̈́̑̅̊̈́̆̑͆̕͜?̶̲̪̰̠͒͐́́͜͠?̴̨͕͓̱͍͕̩͚̱͕͒̊̀̓?̸̲̺͔̻͑̆?̴̧̦̜͉̫̥̠͗ͅ?̶̣̺̋̀̀̉͑̐͒̂͗͜͜ͅ?̸̧̘̲͇̘͚͔̞̭̝͇͓̜̫̏́̆?̶̡̝̄̔͊ͅ?̵̧̩̝̠̟̖͓͎̰͓̠̯̂̄́̈̿͒̎̉̐͜͝͝͠?̵͇̙̪̠̜̜̼͎̱̜̝̐̈̊͋̐̈́̄?̷̨̫̫̺̤̜͔̫͆͜?̵͔͇̣̹̙̰̑̎̀͛̾̍̚?̶̛̠͚?̴̮̲̭͉̍͂̽̑̑̐͠?̸̨̺̀͒͂̉͊?̴̦̱̠̣̲̯̺̪̻̖͖̌̇̈́̎͗ͅ_̶̨͓͉̼͎̰̠͊̓͆̒̕̕̚?̵̤͙͔̺̖̩̮̭̹͓̘̣̪̲̒̄͜?̵̢̛̺̪̥̟̗̖̖͕̠̈̈́̈̅̆̈́̈́͗̿͘͘͠͝¸̸͚̩̬̅̂̈́̓?̸̨̧̩͚͈̩̫͛̑e̶̡̠̙̲̲͙̞̼̹͋͂͗̑̔͒͐͆͘͘͘?̸̨̦̦̮̣̮̩̀ͅ?̸̨̧̤̜̱̫̜̰̪͇̦̯͆͆̽̈͗̀͆̈́̀͊̕?̵̫̗̤̼̲̥̦͓͔̣̲́̃̀͒̊̇̽̎̉̕͜͝͝?̵̨̧̳̦̳̀̐̿̽̀̌̓̈́?̵͙̰̤̐̉̍̍̓̆͑̅̽̉͗͘?̴̮͈̈́͂͂̃̃͊̈́̓͋̚?̸̙̱̠̺͕͍͌͋̃͘͝͝?̴̡̡̛̦̫̺̪̺̬̑̓́̾͝?̶̡̙̲͈͍͓͍̮͚̗͕͛̈͋̿̄͗̈́̅͗̕͜͠͝͝?̸̡̡̨͎̱͙̩̤̺̳̮͕̫̈́͆?̶̝͈̋̇̀̀̏̎͘͘͠͠͠?̶̛̛̘͉̭̎͌̇̆̕͝?̴̢͔͙̥͚̣͇͚̫̼̲̔̀͐̒̀̍͒̔̀̓̾̈͗̃̈͜ͅ?̷̢̛͍͇̪͓͖͖̪̩͂̊̃̅́̅͐̈́̕͠?̵̠̬̩̼͎̀̈̎͋̎͊̑̏̓͒̅͆̄̃̆°̷͍̳̮̠̱̜͊̆̐̽̆̓̐̓̾^̸̨̨̛̭̣̦̆̇̔̀̉̕͝ͅ?̷̨̗̙̦̠̆͋̈́͛͐?̵̢̭͇̟̙̇͛̀̏͂̓̋͗͋̅́̄̾̾͠¨̴̨̗̯̯͕̜̻̘̘̫̱̗̱̊͜͜°̸̭͙͎̲͍̳̪͔̭̬͂̐͐̿̏̂̅́̌̀̈́̎̅͜͝?̴̨͚̬͍̲̟͔̭̻̰̰̒͛͑̈͆͑̊̂̾̇͜?̷̨̛̦̟̗̗̹̲̪̣͉̩͍̈̽̈́̔͆͗͗̈͝͠?̶̙̐̒̓̅̓̌̽́̊͠?̸̢̰̩̼͇̭͖̩̣̣͍̊?̸̢̡̪̹̭̞̩͓͓̓̇̄͂̎͑͊̽͌͗̾̄̊ͅ~°?`?^?¯?¯?_? ?"?a?´?´¯?¨?`?^?l?~¯?^^?¯?`?_?_?_?_?r?"?~?¯?°`?¯´?¨?~?~¯?_?¸?¸?¸?_?e?¯?°?¸?a?¯?¨?¸?d?¯?"~?¯?°?¨?~?y?¯?^^?´~?_? ?¯?¯?¯?´?`?¯?¸?i?°?`?¯¨?`?¯?"?**

The words and voices blended together, creating chaos that prevented any thinking on your own. The thoughts were going fast and yet the head was empty, another plane taken over by complete disarray and darkness.

It was unbearable. He couldn't stand it anymore. The head was the only safe place everybody could always go to but his own was a full-force 100% unsafe mess ready to tear him apart bit by bit from the inside. The things coming out of nowhere and shadows saying things echoing off the walls of his mind created chaos and blind need to escape, bringing pangs of headache on every inch on his skull. It felt like his head shouldn't be in it's place, the burning skin should be off, the boiling blood should get out of his body. Everything felt wrong and everything was becoming pain. Part by part, he was getting overwhelmed by shaking.

_...Again...Why..._

He took a knife that lay a few steps away. He knew it would work. The tilt felt hot against his fingertips, tempting and fighting for his approval. _Once more._

It's a fight his real mind was losing, something else taking over, something aggressive and destructive, scratching the inside of his skull. It felt like a killer waiting for more death, the crime scene being a perfect habitat providing all needs, the knife being the final piece to switch. He held it tight above his hand, mere centimetres away from the cuts he made to stop his suffering when he came here earlier alone.

He needs to do this. _He knows that!_

Just as he readied himself and the voices were loudly pressuring him from the inside-...

He noticed something in contrast to his tanned wrist, looking harder at himself. There was a ... bandage around his hand. He looked at the other, seeing one more as neat as the other one.

_...Huh?..._

Clean and white, neatly and carefully placed_... So gentle that he didn't even feel them and yet they did their purpose._ The white fabric clashed against his dark skin and tunnel vision, standing out almost beautifully, small flashes of memory of the person that placed them going through Heiji's mind in torn flashes. The knife fell down from his hand absentmindedly, producing a dull _clack _noise as his thoughts got blocked by some sort of new blockade, thick and standing firm with his instincts.

The blockade wasn't much, getting teared apart slowly, but all the voices let up after they hit it. He tensed one last time, relief causing him to falter, shreds of pain lowering in intensity as he completely slacked while staring at nothing.

There was a fresh smell of blood around him, a clear metalic taste in the air. Drops of warm liquid fell down his face, a steady stream going down onto the wooden floor. The drips and growing puddles became closer and closer as his legs abruptly gave out, bringing him to the ground with a dulled _thud_.

...

* * *

_..._

_Hour later_ ( which is way more than promised, Kudo ) - _lab -_

"I have no words. I have no idea how you did this, i have no idea what luck you had, but this..." Ai looked at her notes with light in her eyes- "Is the perfect formula. I have no more words, Kudo. We succeeded. Finally. You..."

"I'm free."

Kudo finally looked down on himself, his height making everything look better. He smiled and broke out of the hug with the professor he got locked in as soon as he dressed up and sighed.

He felt so good and free, all healthy, all calm, pain-free, almost like a big weight was off his heart. Almost like a sentence hanging over his head got passed to someone else. For real. Looking at two bright smiling faces before him he felt one creeping on his face as well, tight and wide and finally _true_.

He helped with figuring stuff out and getting closer to all the tests coming as safe to use until everything went successfully, which was honestly amazing to him. He felt so light again, so free... and then-...-suddenly-

**Realization.**

He remembered something he should have done about an hour ago-

His smile stilled and he became stiff, 2 unknown emotions taking over his mood in a second.

"You asked how i got this. Let me tell you guys something, our Heiji broke in BO." Both of them snapped their heads towards him, eyes as wide as plates. There was this certain message in their eyes-

_'Heiji? BO? Never heard these in one sentence from Kudo before. We made sure he knew as little as possible, right? That no one intervenes... Maybe he knew from his dad? Is the police involved? _' Their eyes seemed to say in their surprise.

...but he continued, "And not that they just willingly gave him all this, no no. He was pretty beaten up by the time i got to him. Thank god he wasn't dead, since it was kinda really bad."

"You remember when i asked to help me find him via phone? " He looked at the old professor briefly as he nodded in agreement. "I found him and patched him up. I'm really sorry and i promise we will get this all over with when i'm back but now i have to get there again to end this mess. Thank you so much for this, i definitely will make it up to you-!" - He said in a hurry grabbing his heavier jacket, looking for understanding in his companions eyes. They nodded with slight smiles wishing Shinichi luck, slightly confused. It felt as if a huge weight has been lifted up their shoulders as well, but now they weren't so sure. Kudo called back, "in case i wouldn't come back for some time, ready the car!"

As he turned, he barely heard,

"But the BO, they might be after- Kudo wait!"

The door snapped shut behind a determined detective rushing for investigation and info gathering, leaving a very complete feeling scientists looking after their most successful rescue, even if a little scared since recently.

"...Get all this over with, huh? All he will do is take us on ice cream and we will get over with the waffle at most. If he survives to that point, that is."

"...Yeah, but that's the best we can look forward to."

...They chuckled, because they indeed looked forward to it.


	7. Chapter 7-prolly full of typos

**Confusing, i know.**

* * *

**Space**

* * *

Shinichi still ruled that skateboard as a high-schooler. It felt even better when you could control more things and yet look cool on it. But that's not the time for that though. _But he liked it so much._

He was on his way towards the nameless house to get Hattori awake and get him home. He already had a plan how to get him to talk all about the Organization Black after he rests a little. He didn't decide if he can just let him go to his own house or if it would be better to take him to Agasa and Ai or maybe he would simply take him for questioning some other time. Shinichi was full of energy, happy that he finally was in his proper form and could finally strike BO. He has to thank Heiji for the cure, too.

_...Kinda looking forward to seeing Hattori look at me, finally fixed like this for good..._

_...wait what_

Oh well, he succeeded in finding the antidote so that was probably it? Maybe if he shows himself Hattori will be even more willing to talk about Organization Black? ._..Or should i give him more time to recover? It was a traumatic experience to be sure and the injection site on his shoulder stirred all sorts of suspicion as of now... _Yeah, he didn't decide yet.

Though things are looking good. Some things left to do but it's still a huge step. _I still can't believe i'm me again..._

The lanterns were giving dim light on the busy streets. He skated through people and even did some tricks on the way, earning a few amazed stares and clapping. The hour was late so most people didn't care but still. He _felt_ amazing, trapped for so long and freed for good this time. He almost couldn't wait to show himself to others again.

He arrived at the door, seeing one light still lit in the room he left his wounded friend in. "Damn, i should have brought some painkillers... that would be the least i could do for him. Waking up will suck so bad, even if he is bandaged..." Shinichi muttered reaching for the door. The handle was wet from the rain that fell during his visit, meaning the clouds were done and should clear up by tomorrow morning, which approached by 2 hours at most.

He cautiously entered, looking around. It's not like he expected someone dangerous to be there or anything, but still...

He suddenly noticed Heiji was not where he left him. To his terror, there were drops of dark blood on the ground evenly displaying a path. "What the..."

Shinichi snapped out from his shock a little and quickly ran up to the back door, listening for any sound of life near by.

"Heiji? Are you here? He-" His eyes widened. The ground was reddened by blood here, blood he never wanted to see outside of his friend, a knife lying by on the floor. It looked anything but good.

"HATTORI!" Shinichi ran up fast, checking his friend's pulse. Alive. _Thank god._ He released a sigh of relief, quickly turning Hattori over to lean on his lap.

"Heiji? Heiji, wake up." He shook him a bit, his clothes rubbing his own. Shinichi noticed suddenly that there was a steady stream of blood running on Heiji's chin. He quickly got some tissues and deduced how the drips of blood on the ground came about. Nosebleed. A major one, definitely. - _but_ _wait._ _How in the hell did this happen? You never were the one to get random nosebleeds, so that means i missed a major injury somewhere along. -Fuck._

_That's also partially your fault, you quiet muttering bag of potatoes. How did you even get here? How long was this going on for?_

"Heiji?" The detective tried again, stressed out from before. He started slightly patting Hattori's cheek to wake him up. It was a bit worrisome and the detective became more determined to make his friend conscious after a longer while. Just as he was ready to full on slap his friend awake to check his condition, he suddenly felt that the detective moved slightly towards his hand.

Shinichi's eyes went wide as Heiji followed his movement and burrowed his face in his clothes - Shaking himself awake after a slow second afterwards. His eyes opened slightly, looking dazedly towards one blue blur he hoped to be his friend. It covered most of his vision so of course he looked that way, even not knowing what it was.

"Hey...?" But the eyes closed again. Wasn't anything weird since it's late but you have to admit that the blood surrounding his pal suddenly losing consciousness made a lot of memories from the crime scenes come back. _Was this a crime scene?_ It sure looks like one. Shinichi looked around but decided to try and understand a bit later. For now he looked at his still bloodied friend, trying to understand what the hell was up with all that first. At least he was awake for a bit, so it's not bad but now... _What to do...what to do..._

_...i have an idea._

Taking one hand under Heiji's knees and the other under his head, Kudo stood up with Hattori in his hold. There would be no way to do that as Conan, he thought offhandedly. Time to call some good yellow car to pick them up and to check Hattori in the lab, since the thing became more complicated than his original plan. He pulled out his phone, replacing it's place in the pocket with the knife he found on the scene to check later. He texted out a message and started thinking about what he found;

_was this the same knife i saw earlier today? it looks dirty but the blood on it isn't fresh. If it's location changed, does that mean someone was trying to use it again? Why was it used before? Maybe there will be some fingerprints or something, so i will bring it to check. _

While waiting, Shinichi looked back at the house. No one broke in from the looks of it. If there was no blood on the ground it would basically look the same as the first time he saw it. _The blood. Wait. Someone will have to clean that up. It's still not our property and whoever comes here would freak out. Maybe i will ask if Haibara has some ideas on how to clean 0.5 liters of blood from the floor. Surely she would know a way, right? _

-Shinichi, you ready? Are you here? - Agasa walked slowly inside a house he was called in. It was a very eventful day with a lot of stuff to take care of and few breakthroughs to accomplish. Figures he would have to leave his house not getting sleep on top of that. Well, since it was important he couldn't deny, especially if it was for Kudo - who apparently needed his assistance (and car) as the last favor tonight.

The boy walked through the door, pleadingly looking at Agasa while carrying one of his detective friends in his hands. The old man's bushy eyebrows went up but he understood the situation and smiled after a bit. He opened the door to get his passengers from outside. "So", he prepared his car keys, "you needed some assistance in handling this sort of thing?" he closed the door behind them and followed the slightly tensed teenager.

" I admit that you told us he was in bad shape but i didn't expect _this_. Did he just faint on you or what? " Agasa asked as he was starting his car with a low noise.

" Can't say since it happened twice with the latest without me around. I swear i almost thought he was dead when i found him on the ground. The blood didn't make it look any less than a crime scene. Would you guess how the blood came about? "

"no, how?"

"Not only from his previous injuries that i bandaged but also by a nosebleed. I must have missed something major since he never gets them. I'm starting to wonder where my detective skills went - i'm serious - How could i miss the cause of that sort of thing? "

"Well, they happen for various reasons. Even if, for example, you knew he had a head injury, you wouldn't be able to help with that with mere bandages. They aren't as obvious as concussions too. And, besides, it looks like he was just weakened. " They turned right on the road, pretty close to the lab. _Looks like i didn't need to make a decision after all huh?_

"Ermm, i was hoping he would give me answers after i left him to rest a bit but i guess something happened when i was gone. I know it's a little late to be asking this, but can we stay here until tomorrow? " Shinichi shifted in his seat, getting a grip on the warm back of his friend and preparing to carry him outside.

Agasa parked his car, saying " I don't think one day is enough to persuade me into letting you both go. He may be targeted and since we got the antidote you may be as well. We need to figure everythin' out - so let's just plan stuff while we are already inside." He opened the door for Shinichi to get out safely, seeing as he had his hands full. "Should i help you with him? You are still getting used to the body after you just got it back so i think i can carry your friend if you aren't up for it." Agasa offered.

Shinichi took Heiji on his shoulders, nodding to the profesor to take the other side anyway.

* * *

Haibara was still analyzing some of the antidote not even caring about the hour. Agasa had left a while ago, _to help Shinichi_, she figured. From what she knew, Kudo's obnoxious friend somehow helped with getting the cure from some fresh BO members. It was obvious they had a new scientist if someone figured her poison if not her and it also appeared obvious that the goons needed to be some very green leaves if Heiji wasn't killed on the spot. It was a wonder, really. The organization was a cruel bunch, she experienced it first hand. She and Shinichi were lucky... in a way. Now it seems their friend was lucky as well. There was a few questions that needed to be asked this guy and that was her current plan, however there was no telling when they will see each other to properly talk.

She stood from the desk as she heard some footsteps, small part of her cautious. "Hey, you are stepping on me!" -Aaaand with that she knew exactly who was coming. Taking a few steps towards the noise to see both men going down towards her she announced: "Well who graced us with their presence again?"

As she got closer she suddenly noticed a boy carried by his shoulders down towards one of the rooms. She was quite surprised by another guest along her companions, eager to know the reason for the visit. He appeared hurt, just as Shinichi described him earlier. _Well, their meeting will be coming faster than she expected._

"Let me guess, You didn't bandage him."

"I sure did, he just...!"

"He just fainted when he wasn't around. Shinichi just got dragged into our antidote checking for too long. Maybe."

"Oh, i see. Was he just so exhausted by running away from the crime scene or what?"

"You gotta chose your priorities next time, Kudo. Who knows what organization black could have done."

"**WHAT?!** It was totally you guys that made me stay!"

"A high-schooler ditching his friend, fu fu."

"But at least we will have plenty of time to question him without his permission to get him here in the first place, so..."

"Yeah, sure. So anyway, how bad is it? Was he concussed or did he just decide to sleep like a log since he was tortured all day? " Haibara asked while crossing her hands, getting closer to the bed occupied by one very lucky escapist.

"I took care of most of the cuts but he never mentioned getting straight up tortured to me. I like to think he was exhausted for other reasons but i guess i will need to ask him during questioning i plan to do. So far he didn't mention much beside the antidotes he grabbed for me." Haibara thought deeply again. _Seems like the police wasn't involved, helping out a friend alone in it's stead. Who would just try to get antidotes or anything for that matter, from BO alone? How did anyone his age even track a slight trail to their base? _She had a lot of questions, most of them unknowingly shared with Kudo who was taking off some of his bloodied clothes off.

"There was some clues though." Shinichi said coming over again towards his sleeping friend. "Lots of bruising on hands, probably handcuffs. A huge bruise on his shoulder and loose scattered cuts. The shoulder is concerning in one more way too - you should take a look."

Ai did, lifting the blanket and unrolling some bandages she was going to re-apply later. Small gasp escaped her as she recognized exactly the cause of the damage. _There was a struggle. A struggle as he tried to get away from something being injected by a medium-sized needle. Was he drugged? _Shinichi watched the thinking on Ai's face as she checked what he asked, confirming his own speculations. Since Hattori was unconscious, the only way to deduce more was to count on various knowledge Haibara can provide in the topic of what could have happened. He hoped she would share something important with him then but instead she put the blanket over the wound again, silent.

Shinichi stared at her, their gazes locking for a long while. Ai was stoic, as if some bad memory hardened her face again while Kudo's determined eyes wanted answers. He had a feeling she knew it. After a second though she seemed to smile knowingly, walking out of the room. "Let's just leave him to rest today. There is still some night to sleep through and i'm sure all of us could use some of that." She closed the door behind her, completely ignoring her own suggestion and sitting near the computer to browse various titles.

Shinichi was still in the room, sitting near a sleeping detective. Professor said he will take a look at him to check if everything was alright a few minutes before, leaving him alone. Kudo pulled out his 'phones', the one he used as Conan flashed with few messages with "Hey, where are you?" and a few calls. Now that Conan is technically gone, Kudo got his mind full of thinking what to do with the Mouri family. There was a plan to get Ran to see him, sure, but she wouldn't just _forget _Conan. Besides, showing himself was dangerous when they were probably furious someone stole their chemicals. Whatever they needed these for. On the other phone there was one message. He was surprised hen he saw the sender's name, '**Kazuha Toyama**', glow on the screen. He opened it and saw a weird combination of numbers and letters that had only the first verse available to read.

'Kazuha Toyama'

Chat from 9:28 p.m.

_Hey Kudo, Ran said that you could decipher this weird message i'm forwarding right now. I would have asked Heiji but Ran insisted to humoring you as well. Please tell me if you succeeded, i'm kinda curious who would send me such weird stuff. Ran sends kisses! _

The stuff after that was a mess but it's not his first code. Cracking it was just a matter of time, although it didn't look important. _Why would someone sent this to Kazuha?- _Shinichi wondered. Welp, whatever. The whole day was getting to him, exhaustion making the warm bed seen appealing even more than normally. He knew that you can't fill in the missing report if three days haven't passed so even if Ran would search for Conan it wouldn't be a problem. He typed some 'My parents visited today so don't worry nii-chan' on his Conan phone and instead started to get up from Heiji's bed. He noticed alarmingly that he unconsciously didn't let go of his friend until now. _How did this even happen? _He took his arm away slowly but Heiji started to follow it in his sleep. Kudo's eyebrows shot through the ceiling, the boy stopping all of his movement abruptly. He tried repeating the process, the same outcome showing itself. He took in the whole situation again, trying to calm himself and yet being unable to.

Heiji was pale, the day surely being more dangerous than he expected it to be. Detective of the East wondered about all of the times this happened before. He remembers the day Heiji got shot trying to stop the suspect from killing himself - the passed out boy holding a front so no one worries too much. The day he just run into a burning building to save people, rescuing even Kudo afterwards. The few times he took bullets protecting others and helping with the investigation. The most similar situation to the current one being the memorable 'poisoned knife' incident when he tried to hide his condition for the sake of the case. _Dumbass._

Kudo knew he did similar stuff to that a few times too but knowing that Heiji did the same or got himself hurt purely for his sake was making him feel horrible. It was a mix of anger and concern, something that Kudo experienced often in his field. It had some disadvantages, having a friend like Hattori. His person reminded him ... of the amulet he lent him one time on a case in Osaka - The metal piece stopped the knife from piercing his chest but the thing itself was damaged, not mentioned again. It sometimes made him wonder about how Hattori even knew the murderer will try to strike him that day and how he knew the thing may help him. Sure, he forgot to ask him in time because of how he fell asleep in the ambulance later from the general gunshot blood loss but it still was making him curious when he thought about it.

Suddenly there was a sound making his thoughts stop running so freely. Is looked like someone joined his friends outside. Shinichi carefully took his hand away, feeling a bit guilty when he saw some discomfort on Heiji's face. Quietly exiting the room he noticed a very familiar face and stopped in his tracks.

"Kid?"

"Hey Kudo. Looking better i see?" The disguised boy answered stopping his previous conversations with the two scientists. He smiled warmly, greeting the detective.

"I have some information about organization black. I hoped that you might explain some things to me, too. Now i know it's late but i really gotta hurry so how about we just get some coffee?"


	8. Chapter 8-mornin

**Things can always be corrected,from any point,by some better human than me**

**Would gladly leave this alone,change it and abandon it**

**But well whatev**

**You think i have notes for this? Nah,pure boredom straight out of my brain**

* * *

**Not gonna lie i needed to knock Hattori out for a while so i can explain the shit, but, well, damn**

* * *

"From how i see it, they had a plan B in case your bro actually got out. Or maybe that was their plan A, and him dying right on would be plan B. ...Anyways, since you two know each other and are most often seen together on cases, they recognized him, i think."

"From the crimes around the area Heiji was investigating it would seem they had to be either inexperienced or ... instructed, to lure him in. Maybe he was recognized as a threat because of his dad then?"

"Would make sense too but if they actually had a reason for letting such a person slip it would need to be a good one. Imagine demanding a ransom from such a high officer, surely makes it look bad. There is also the whole thing with him stealing the antidotes. Getting such a thing as an antidote out that place would be pretty important if they knew who really needs it. Hattori just paid the price for getting it in some real beating."

"...He is good at escaping so the guys may had just overlooked some classic possibilities?"

"But what if it was all a plan? they didn't make any threats nor propose a deal... Is this really an open-shut scenario when he just got lucky?"

They talked for a while, the sun being already up and the breakfast served. Kaito noticed Shinichi's eyes were closing. Poor guy, he probably was exhausted too.

"Don't overdo it, don't overthink it, Kudo. BO and it's action is something you tried to figure out for a long time, don't forget that. We need some more input before making assumptions, especially in such a delicate and strictly private state you must remain in for now." He spared a glance towards his tired friend. From what he could see this all was taking a toll on Kudo enough as it is, especially since a lot of danger can land on him if he makes some stupid moves. Frustrating events and a hurt friend disrupted thinking, he knew that.

He regretted that he couldn't help at the moment but he hoped his friend would listen for once.

"It means a lot, Kid. If you would stumble upon something and had a while, please come again." Haibara all but yawned as she looked at the stats of the detective of the west she took some time ago with the profesor. She was listening in onto their conversation halfheartedly and just decided to dismiss both of them from pointless guessing games. Casting a side-eye at Kudo, she added - "You need some time to get new info all sorted up in your head. You can't speed this up but i know what will help you." Her eyes closed momentarily as she turned around to Kudo and leaving Kid.

Shinichi eyed Kaito as he was going away, few white feathers falling from his casual clothes he decided to wear here, turning to Haibara once more not long after.

"What would that be?" He asked, sitting down again.

"A pillow."

"What do you mean, 'a pillow' ?"

"Look at you, you are so tired you can't even connect a bed and a pillow together. I will help you up, come on." She lent him a hand that he resisted. Seeing all the hesitation, she took her hand away and stared through the open door at the bed Hattori was laying in. She thought..._thought...**Idea**_**.**

Disappearing into a near room and looking around she flicked the lights on with her small fingers and started the search.

_...You wouldn't say it aloud, but i know you are way too worried and confused to sleep. . . . . .If i won't cool him off now he may even try to stay awake till the next morning._ \- after thinking for a while, she took out a big blue 'emergency-secret-spare' blanket and a small pillow next to it. They were pretty fluffy by her opinion, most effective against exhausted highschoolers called Shinichi Kudo.

She knows the feeling of utter confusion, not knowing a way out, feeling helpless or even just simply ... weird... _But, Well.._. There were some things she learned during this whole 'being 7/y old' adventure. You can't skip your confusion and problems. The only thing that's helping is support and time. With so many things happening she needed to make sure Kudo gets them, even if she will have to serve them all on a silver plate this time.

She looked at Professor Agasa passed out on his chair, the events of today also wearing him out. Good thing she had two blankets on her silver plate.

As she was thinking to herself about all this once more, Kudo curiously looked at her working on setting the bed. It was slower since she was pretty small and needed to move pretty often. Ai didn't use the antidote, maybe because she wanted to see if he himself didn't die in the nearest hour or by the first day.

Of course it could have been simply because she wanted to stay the way she did for now as well, but still. Curious. His eyes shined as he looked towards a fluffy pillow and blanket she carried and prepared on the bed nearest to him, already feeling the warm material pulling him to sleep just from looking. He stood up willingly coming closer towards the bed she set the 'trap' on.

He knew that she knew how to get him to sleep even if he resisted. He was too tired to mind Hattori, also sleeping near him. He fell down with grace, smiling to Haibara as his head hit the pillow. He now kinda understood how you could basically fall asleep anywhere if you really needed to. Silence pulled him into a trance few times, taking his tired vision away into the abyss.

* * *

_..._

Warm night and many lights, that's all he remembered from the background.

Ran laughing just some time before he went, a promise to see each other again in the air.

Where was he going with this? What are they...

No..._Leave me alone!_

...

Stop it! What...

...

_I hope you know..._

...

He looked up, darkness all around. Flashlights suddenly shone down on his eyes, too big clothes surrounding his small trapped body.

Hot clothes and sweat surrounded him, a light pressure that was hard black metal beneath.

It happened again. _No... it was happening to him all over again!_

He couldn't stand it. He was so close, he was finally free!

_Why did it happen?_

if he only didn't made that mistake...

_No..._

* * *

_Lab, noon-_

Kudo shot up from his bed, the nightmare leaving him sweating bullets and blinking at the dim surroundings. He dreamt about that night. The night the BO poisoned him in the park. The events were still fresh in his mind and the uncomfortable taste lingered in his mouth. Looking down on his normal body he let out a sigh..._..It's all alright, it's finally over. His days pretending were over. He escaped._ Looking around again he started to take off his clothes. In his current state he will need to hide better, not show himself... you never know what these bastards will do if they find out just how alive he is. He saw a pile of clothing on his right. Folded neatly on a chair, most probably left by Ai before she went to sleep for good after he did - On his left however, Hattori was sleeping, breathing slowly, proof of his lethargic and alive state. It was a bit concerning that he still wasn't awake but he decided to let him take his time.

Kudo will understand everything in his time, for now safety and recovery was the key priority.

_and yet..._

Seeing the enthusiastic detective so still and weak brings shivers down his spine. If he didn't look so lifeless it would be fine-ish but it wasn't even that moment yet. From the looks of it - it won't be for some time.

Shinichi went off the bed, leaving the big fluffy blanket behind, crumpled but also folded a bit. It was pretty warm at night - he noticed as his clothes were a bit wet from sweat. Shinichi caught himself thinking if Hattori was giving some sort of heat towards his blanket as well but tried not to think about it. He knew better than anyone than Heiji handles the cold of the ocean and the hotness of the fire perfectly fine. The only thing he doesn't handle is the sickness after it's all over.

Approaching slowly - he rested his hand on Heiji's forehead. Feeling a slight fever, he frowned. _...I have no idea why i am so paranoid about this. I guess when you find someone in a puddle of blood because you weren't there for half an hour you don't really want to repeat it if you can help it..._ Was it guilt, he wondered.

He was on his way up just as he saw his phone ringing. His '**Conan**' phone. He covered it quickly to not wake Hattori and looked at the caller id. It was Ran, obviously. He couldn't answer as Shinichi now, Ran would know immediately. Since there is no more of his younger self, should he tell her right away? Though saying it through a phone was out of the question, that he was sure about. Should he just never say anything about it again then?

When he took too long to decide, Conan's phone went silent anyway. He called Ran on his normal phone instead, finally not pressured by the time or audience that hears. Looking outside the window, he began thinking with his fresh mind.

* * *

_Osaka, Kazuha's house - noon_

A slip of paper went through Kazuha's door.

_Mail?_ She thought as she went towards it with a spring in her step. In her head she was hoping it was Heiji contacting her from his big case. It didn't look like it but she cared for her friend and really hoped that it was at least something related. Thinking about it, Kazuha really wanted a sign from him, even more since she realized her arrogance. He wasn't silent even when giving silent treatment in the past and she deeply hoped their latest argument didn't make it bad enough for him to actually shut her out, especially since she is ready to apologize since about two days already. She was his childhood friend... she hoped it meant something.

Kazuha was also pretty exited and determined to show her 'new side' to other people. She learned some things about both herself and others, finally listening to more people and their feelings. Talking with Ran, a patient and good friend, was the best choice in every way. Her parents noticed, which is interesting since it was through a really small interaction, and said she "matured" a bit. Hell yeah.

As she opened the letter with a knife,the only thing she could read at the top - was the address.

Weird scribbles of ... Japanese letters that were making no sense stood before her. _What is this?_ She thought._ What is this letter?_ She frowned deeper, trying to make sense of anything written but couldn't. She only saw a few correct letters, still deeming it useless to understand. Hell...First the e-mail and now letters? Maybe instead of a detective she should get her dad to help her...

It resembled the message from before and since Shinichi said he will look at it and Hattori definitely got the message, she took a picture again and sent it to detectives anyway.

_...what the hell is going on here?_

...


	9. Chapter 9-silence over

**Questions man, what the heck**

* * *

"Damn."

A man said as he was walking around completely messed up room.

It was the room he kept his newly developed poison in, every antidote he made, temporary lab set. The one in which these bastards commanded him to move his stuff in for this damned unstable killing mission. A shame the floor was stained with blood and the equipment was toppled over.

"I leave them in this temporary new hideout to get people especially from the list to test my crap on and what i get is utter destruction. Fucking unbelievable." He kicked the spilled vial so the glass hit the near wall, audible crack echoing in the room.

"Is this a joke? They caught something, which was good, but they were too careless to even keep an eye on it. I get it, they don't like this place, but come on! " He knelled down looking at the suspiciously broken handcuffs. "We are disposable, but putting us together in one place with some shitty instructions will not change that. I didn't even see the results i worked so hard on... I-...I can't give the report. They won't be s-satisfied." He scratched his neck nervously, his brown hair getting in the way. "No... I worked for them for 3 years already, i know they won't dispose of me yet... not because those careless fucks messed up... They won't. They won't, right?"

"This is a disaster. " ...

"A disaster that can bring miracles." The man jumped as he heard a voice behind his back. He turned around, startled, just to be slammed against a wall harshly.

The back of his head was wet with blood but he looked up nonetheless.

"Everything went wrong, i know, but-you said-" The two were inches apart, alone in a dark room. The man let go and the scientist slid down the wall, still looking up at the other. After a beat of silence, the man started again. "Listen, we have everything that we wanted. You and these mutts got the list of assassinations to do, which luckily included our escaping friend on it. The luck does not end there however, since they got a friend in person of our next annoying target - as well as the daughter of the chief detective - as well as being the only son of chief of police. We already started the process you were talking about, exactly as you commanded and instructed, the only left is to find some time to fix our little slip up." He moved soundlessly towards the exit again, turning back one last time.

"Your lack of adapting really surprises me,"

_"William."_

* * *

"Hey, Haibara, You have a minute? " Shinichi peeked into the room, searching for the small girl. Since profesor ordered him to stay inside in case the black organization was looking around for their unfinished job he was pretty much in house jail. Safety and all that.

"Yeah, i'm here." She said as she typed on her small computer. "Just checking some stuff."

"Cool, yeah, so listen ...Um ..." Kudo came closer, looking down on his phone. He had been trying to solve these weird messages he got from Kazuha, with no success. The thought of asking Ai for opinion crossed his mind so he came looking for her. It was the middle of the day, he knew she would be awake by now even if she stayed up all night. "I got some weird codes that i can't crack so i thought it may make more sense in your language. Sciency stuff maybe."

"Sciency stuff, huh."

"Yes."

"And even you, the _great detective_, can't figure it out? "

"Nope."

"..."

"Gimme that."

...

She stared at it, a flash of recognition in her eyes. She stood up, looked back at expecting Shinichi, but all she said was "Nah, i have no idea. But i just remembered i still have to clean up that house you two were in. Your pal bleeding on that floor isn't exactly legal if you look at it and the mess won't disappear. By the way, would you wake him? We need that info if you are planning on ever leaving without Agasa snatching you back inside 2 seconds later. " Kudo exhaled disappointed after he just lost the only chance in solving the thing keeping his thoughts at bay. Time to find something else to do.

"... I guess you are bored, huh? Since we don't know anything yet how about you just catch up with Ran some more? Also, i will be back soon with all the evidence i will manage to find from around the region so be ready for that. Bye! "

**_Slam_**

_...That's a tad rough. She thinks i didn't think all about this? She thinks i didn't trouble myself with thinking about how to go back and all? Jeez, that's already done, if i think more of it my head will explode. I have the whole day and nothing to do, what a waste of...-_

"Shinichi stop sulking."

_...Oh come on._

"I will try, profesor."

* * *

_Abandoned house, sunset_

Haibara held the vials in her hands, glass clanking when she clutched them. There were some with full names, some without, and the one she had at home. From what she can tell, they were all antitoxins and antidotes, probably since the organization chose to turn every failed attempt at the serum into poison they needed those for. _Or, some anyway._

That's what concerned her. There was a _... gap .._. in the numbers that marked the vials. The poisons invented by black organization have been numbered since a long time ago, and she didn't recognize any of those held in her hand. There was some mess here in the house on both floors, mostly where the vials were left at and some drawers that were open in possible material search. One thing that was left was this blood on the floor, catching the eye as soon as you enter.

Now, she has been standing over it for a while. There were drops, smudged steps, dried hand-prints and this one weird smudged part from a weirder shape. Hesitating slightly, she took a sample from the floor. She was wondering for a while now... how exactly the injection wound just happened to be on Hattori's shoulder just after the organization 'let him slip'? Besides, Shinichi was supposedly getting some messages from Heiji's region which pointed to some possibilities she heard about on one of the organization's gatherings in the past. This all compiled to make her contemplate about some possibilities - even if for now nothing was dangerous.

She typed out some stuff to check to profesor Agasa, planning to head back.

* * *

_Agasa'a lab, evening_

Shinichi was sitting on some video game on the old man's computer. He called everyone, caught up to everything, waited for everybody, and he got bored enough to beg for some saving by this old thing the profesor kept. There was no sign from Kaito, although he has to admit he thought hard about their conversation yesterday. No Haibara yet but she was exactly where she said she would. The old Agasa was making some food and soon going to bed which Kudo couldn't do just yet since he stayed up all night yesterday. His parents are happy he went back to being normal and he talked to them through all day on the phone (while also saying that the BO is stationed close so they shouldn't come until it's cleared up) and overall it was nice to get stuff off his chest. He finally decided to get himself a drink from upstairs but before he stood up from his chair a door opened behind him in the silent environment.

He turned around, almost on instinct, but it wasn't anyone dangerous or anything.

Hattori tried to act as his normal self even when he felt weird. Opening the door quietly he peeked outside just to lock his eyes with Kudo.

"Hattori?"

"Oh. Hi there, Kudo."

"Hattori? You're awake?" Kudo has long since stepped away from his computer, now walking towards his friend.

Hattori took a step ahead, closing the door behind him and leaning on it slightly, a strained smirk on his face. "Kudo, buddy, i see the cure workin' ?" But Kudo just made a face, as if Heiji just said something stupid. Reaching toward him, Kudo beamed.

"Working is an understatement. I'm back, finally, **for good**. " He said.

"Well that's nice. Could you tell me what i'm doing here?"

Kudo frowned, his half smile now getting even smaller. Hattori noticed, a tad of fear in his eyes. **Was something the problem? Did i say something wrong?**

After some silence, Kudo seemed to put the words right in his head and asked softly "Heiji, do you remember what happened yesterday?"

The boy had a confused look on his face, clearly not expecting the question. He had a lot of questions on his own, like _why was he in Agasa's lab? Or why he felt so weak? Also, why was he woken up by some weird warnings, laying in someone else's bed with clothes already prepared by the side? _

He had no choice but be blunt. "Tha last thing i know was that dim street and listening in. I know nothing of how i got here. Sorry..." He felt as if he had done something **wrong**, as if he hadn't done **enough.** There was an ich near his shoulder, sudden need to get away from himself present in the back of his mind.

"No, no, it's ok. We just have to help you remember, we have time and everything needed. No rush. You just woke up, didn't you?" Kudo gave Heiji some space, looking towards some plates left from dinner.

"Would you like something to eat? I can always...you know... nuke something in the microwave for you?"

Heiji looked at Shinichi and thought about it for a while. Deciding he wasn't hungry, he was about to decline and go further into the room but the moment he let go of the door his legs almost gave up.

"Hey! You alright?" Shinichi was by him in a second, holding him up by his arm.

"Y-Yeah. I guess i'm still half asleep...Sorry." Heiji said, another wave of dizziness passing over him. Shinichi hoisted him up to a nearby chair, his hand still firm on his shoulder. He drew his eyebrows in a concerned manner, holding his friend straight. Some footsteps were heard and not soon after the profesor showed up in the room, a sandwich in his mouth. He stopped for a second before going near the center of the room, taking in the situation. He locked his gaze on Shinichi, who locked his gaze in return, making Agasa's gaze slide slowly towards Heiji who had his head down.

"Oh, Heiji. Sorry i needed to wake you up but we kinda need you awake. Haibara will be here soon so just sit...sit where you're sitting." Agasa motioned to Kudo to follow him, going off to the side. Kudo stared confused but turned back quickly with a quick: "Rest for a bit, we will be back in a second." and rushed after the profesor, who looked him seriously in the eye. Shinichi started though, cutting him off from beginning the conversation.

"You woke him up? Why? And why doesn't he remember anything?! Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's not that. Not now anyway. Ai needs you both to go to one specific location we suppose to be the old BO hideout. She said to not worry about your friend over there too much, just watch out for him for a while."

Kudo calmed a bit and nodded in agreement. He actually wanted to go out, even for a little bit, and surely fresh air would do Heiji good as well. He still had some questions though.

"Isn't it too dangerous?"

"She said the hideout is empty. It was temporary base for a few assassins and a scientist and the best time to look around is just fresh after movement. It should be ok, especially since these guys were catching the attention of the police for some months now. There is security, cops are on guard."

"Alright. When are we leaving?"

"I will give you 9 minutes. Let me just start up my car."

Agasa left Kudo alone. There was some things he started to think about again as his steps echoed behind. If the police was involved for some time now, is that the way Hattori got mixed up in all this? And there is the fact that this whole thing went unnoticed by Shinichi, meaning Hattori wasn't _planning_ on letting him _know_.

He was lost in thought for a second, but after a while it changed into an inside battle of wanting to go outside and actually fearing for safety. If BO were to get him again, this 1/100 chance wouldn't happen again. If he were to take Hattori, in his current weakened & amnesia-like state, to this place and supposedly needed to run or evacuate - there would be a problem. Still, he came back onto the room.

"It's kinda awkward."

Heiji stood up from his chair, looking at the ground. There wasn't even a beat for Shinichi to react, more so to answer, before he spoke again.

"Was Kaito here?" Heiji asked unexpectedly. Shinichi widened his eyes, surprised by how Hattori figured it out.

"Yeah. He actually had some info for us... By the way, we weren't supposed to leave for safety reasons but i guess Haibara calls us."

Hattori looked uncertain for a minute, a hint of ._..something_ akin to fear in his eyes. Kudo didn't like how he was slowly seeing it more often.

...

"I have no idea how i got here, or why we have to go, but sure imma go if that lil' friend of yours wants it so."

"Sure." Hattori left, Shinichi hovering close by as they got to the car, a hint of uncertainty in the air.

* * *

_Agasa'a car, evening_

"I wanted to thank you." Shinichi suddenly said. "I have no idea why you did this for me, or what you were trying to prove getting all beat up, but i'm grateful. I never thought you would go wild and alone on such a thing...I hope you can give me some explanation once you remember."

"Shinichi..."

"Come on Heiji, it has been on my mind for a long time. I basically carried you here. You trust me, right? ..." Kudo said reaching out for his friend. But the other just looked away, something suddenly changing.

"Why does it _matter_? You never trusted me, did ya now? It's done, so there is nothing more to know or explain. "

"W-What?"

"Since i figured out your identity...You needed to tell me stuff. You never would do tha' _normally,_ i just self-proclaimed myself your friend - r''member? So i will just make it up to you and get the hell out where i belong."

"But Heiji- what?-" Kudo was confused by this sudden turn of the conversation. He hoped Hattori's resistance to his questions would pass after he healed up a bit, meanwhile he doesn't answer and gets grumpy instead. He kind of feared the fated conversation about why he never let his friend help out in that dangerous front but he sure wasn't ready for it now. It was pretty sudden. Agasa gave half of his attention towards the back seat, interested.

"You never trusted me enough to let me help you with the Black Organization. You never said you knew Kid's identity. I thought i told ya' you can count on me, but you didn't believe me it seems. Even now you are not telling me anything!"

"No! No,Hattori that-"

"It's nothing _new_, Shinichi. I helped you out, is' all good. Let's get whatever Ai wants and i will just... _go_."

Shinichi caught Heiji's shoulders, making Heiji snap back to looking at him, posture straight and tensed from sudden contact. "You... are wrong, Hattori." He said strongly. "Where are those thoughts coming from? Is that why you went there alone?" He demanded yet again. Heiji let out a small chuckle, humorless and hollow, the situation getting to him. His wrists and arms hurt again, itching below his bandages. His friend looked worked up, his intimidating eyes even scarier in his older body, both staring intensely as if right through him. "I...shouldn't have said anything. Forget it."

Shinichi locked his eyes with Heiji who was since struggling against his grasp. "There is still a few things that need checking. Biggest one? What exactly happened." Heiji looked horrified, his head saying all kinds of wrong. He spared a glance on his shoulder, some piece of information falling into his mind. Shinichi didn't miss that, now deciding to pressure his friend further. Heiji meanwhile heard some familiar whispers at the back of his head, catching onto their small protests. These voices, the things he had done, he remembered now. it was all...

* * *

They got out of the car, the atmosphere grim. Ai told the profesor where to enter, so he was leading both boys inside the building. There was something more similar in between these walls for Hattori. The bricks were the same bloody color, the ground was gray and full of small crunching pebbles. He could almost feel the small rocks under his hands and legs as he looked at them, more memories getting through the cloud of voices.

The hallways seemed to get closer to each other, collapsing against the other side, blocking out the dark sky. The chill in the air made Hattori shudder, his eyes clouded by black dots for a second making him trip over his legs. Catching onto the wall he steadied himself, waiting for the voices to quiet and the walls to stop moving. Closing his eyes for a moment he rested, not caring for anything for few blissful seconds.

Through the silence Shinichi heard a small sound of bricks getting scratched, distracting him from following Agasa. He turned slightly, noticing his friend lagging behind. Alarmed, he walked towards him quickly, noticing his tired posture supported by the wall. "Heiji?" When he didn't reply, Shinichi scolded himself for leaving him again. He thought he had learned his lesson when he found his friend bloodied after leaving, yet he forgot after spending so much time close. Grabbing Heiji by the arm he roused him a bit, making his tired eyes open. "You really should have stayed to sleep, didn't you?" He asked, earning a grumble out of Hattori. Smiling slightly, he got his arm over Heiji's neck and half-carried him forward, supporting his weight. "Ai better have a good reason for us specifically to investigate this cursed place."

They went down, going through the small entrance through the ground.


	10. Chapter 10-What-the chapter

**You guys know you can take this, right?**

**If you hate a story, just find a point where it broke and make a fixed version of events in your mind **

**i do that every time i hate something that happened, just sitting and thinking, taking the new truth**

**when i'm not thinking about other things, that is.**

* * *

**You know this feel when u realize you did so many mistakes but you dun wanna go back to fix em**

**fun.**

* * *

"Ok guys, sorry i had to drag you over here. I would normally go back and all but i fear we don't have much time. This liar will be empty for 2 hrs at most before the police arrives so 2 detectives is exactly what we will use here before that place gets closed off. Try to get whatever you can, tho." Haibara all but yelled at the end of one of the corridors. It was a pretty big place, with quite a few rooms and walkways. The metalic walls and beton ground were giving off a pretty sterile-like vibe, bringing everyone to the ground with a strong smell.

As Heiji got off Shinichi with a quick thanking nod, Kudo started looking around. He was planning on keeping close to everybody this time, not wandering off anywhere, but to his surprise profesor and Heiji were following him around anyway. It would be hard to keep an eye on everything while also looking for clues if not for the already trained mind of Shinichi, used to both danger and quick thinking ever since becoming Conan. As all of them stopped in the biggest room and Haibara was going around the hallways - the investigation officially began.

It was a simple entrance, the ladder wasn't even that long. The first room acted as a wardrobe and a storage room at the same time, judging by the amount of empty carton boxes and dirty footprints on the ground. There was some hangers there and there, with only one tattered coat remaining leaving the rest empty. Looking around the leftover boxes Kudo spotted some papers and a big coffee stain. The documents were about all the trades and what was bought, some containing clear addresses and prices. Going towards the only desk in the room which the profesor was standing near, Kudo looked over the last document in the room.

The profesor corrected his glasses, handing the boy the last piece of paper. "Kudo, i think this is their list. The target list." Agasa said as he walked away. Kudo squinted against the low light to read, which Heiji prevented by turning on the lamp sitting neatly on the desk. The whole thing was filled with various names and pictures, some of them crossed and some circled. The place of work was always written near the name, probably for localization measures. Trying to find someone he knew Kudo began to flip the pages and skim over every side. "Oi, Your name is written on tah." Heiji stopped Shinichi's hands just as he was about to go over it on the list. Hattori was looking over his shoulder, quickly checking the information along, the same thoughts grabbing at his mind.

There was a name, wrote in dark blue ink- 'Shinichi Kudo'- 'Currently not located, missing target. Capture if found.'

"That's uh... I think it's not that bad. Could have been worse."

There was also some side notes, as to where he was last seen, all written in a fast and messy manner. "You think they would get tha' people that know you to tell where ya at, and yet it looks as if they still couldn't get you. Interesting." Heiji went around the desk to look at the pile of documents on the right side, probably finding (and recognizing) some of the illegal dealers and deals made by the organization.

"Do you... remember anything from these rooms? Were you here?" Kudo said loudly enough for Heiji to pick up.

"I... the only room i do remember isn't this one. The aesthetic is similar, though. I think." Heiji uttered, giving the place one more good look.

Shinichi thought back to Heiji's lack of trust in him earlier and suddenly got an idea. Since the detectives dealt best with evidence, this was a perfect way to get him to understand more about why he did things he did.

"Well...You see Heiji, the main reason the Organization does not have all my companions caught and cuffed somewhere in their cells saying all about my location, is that i try my best to not involve them. People rarely know my secret, more so about the organization. It's all a safety measure, you see..." He side-eyed Hattori, gazing away quickly as he saw the unmistakable look of confusion on his face. After a long pause he started thinking that maybe Heiji got angry or missed the meaning, but he finally followed with: "I suppose Kid has some deal with the Organization too? You both like going in solo against everything it looked like. Maybe that's the factor you both share." Heiji suggested. Even if there was still some doubts and betrayal in these words it wasn't audible. He himself put the document away after staring down some scribbled over and torn names near his.

"I suppose so. Although we are...both getting more people to help out lately." Shinichi moved smoothly towards the hallway, Agasa already working on the lock of the door Ai pointed out. Heiji gave a short amused glare at his back, smirking. "That's cool and all, but tell him to not leave his feathers when he visits next time."

The next room was rather long, having a way lower ceiling than the last one. It was way less bright and definitely more humid, some dark puddles and leaks forming on the grayish walls. There was a set of closets in the very end, some papers hanged on the way there. When they closed the door behind them they noticed some hooks with ropes and cables on them, possibly for repairs or tying stuff. There was also a strong smell of bleach and steel in the air, completely overwhelming with the assistance of the previous one. Haibara sneezed awkwardly, coming towards the big closet and entering some codes in the lock. Proving unsuccessful a few times she once again called Agasa over, fiddling with the lock some more. As Kudo looked down on the ground he quickly noticed just how much being Conan helped him find the clues in such places. Being here now however made him want to be nothing more than himself, an ever present dread of coming back looming over him. He never wants to be the way he was again. As if reading his mind, Heiji lowered himself to the ground near kneeling Shinichi to keep him company. Kudo took some comfort in that.

Looking around more, Heiji walked around the closet to inspect it but it opened suddenly, revealing a big arsenal of weapons before them. As they took in the mass amount of guns daggers knives and bullets, the boy took out his phone and took photos of all evidence he could sort out as being from the wanted criminals and illegal sources. Noting the bleach and chemicals to make explosions on the lower shelf he took a step back, pulling Kudo along.

"These are some illegal weapons and chemicals out there. Most for quick assassinations or huge bombings, not counting the obvious straight up murder. I know who makes some of the models and from where they import it. Same with other equipment. If we play our cards right we might get a lot of illegal dealers and buyers in prison for both this and their assaults." Heiji said, obviously asking to get more info on the matter.

Kudo tried to keep Heiji away from it all for far too long - he realizes. Since the BO captured Heiji that meant he was in this as deep as Kudo was, increasing the need for actual trust.

Shinichi was willing to try.

"Glad you're here then. Since we got the documents already, the only thing left to do is match." Heiji immediately looked more certain and confident, finally increasing his trust back in detective. Letting go of the unconsciously held breath the blue-eyed boy went back to take a better look at the weapons himself as the two parted, a new plan in mind.

* * *

_Flashback-_

_Unknown time, Osaka Precinct _

_"Heiji, since you want to be a detective, i think it's high time to take you to some real police training. It's pretty useful, just ask Kazuha's dad. I wanted to start this as soon as you were ready, just like my father did with me. " Heizou took Hattori inside the room next to the training gym, parted by only a piece of one-sided glass. Normally there would be physical tests that needed watching and grading from this place, however tonight it was their talking spot._

_"So you want to teach me about all the important parts of being a policeman? Finally decided tah' let me on the bigger cases eh?" Heiji sat down, already grabbing the huge pile of books from the desk. They were both surrounded by thick blue walls, many metal drawers and some chairs before the glass. Some pens were disassembled, a possible habit of one of the workers normally occupying this space. Must have been a stress reliever, since Heiji noticed a lot more in the drawer. _

_"Every policeman should know a few things. Actually, every member of the police should know as much as they can the minute they enter any activity. That's why the more ya know the better. Same with your men, as all of your knowledge together matters when the time is right." Heizou eyed Hattori, already reading all materials he managed to get on the most important cases throughout the last few years to use as an example, and continued._

_"Actually... If someone lies to you, there is probably a bigger reason at play, especially when it's about a case. Let me share an advice with you Heiji - Don't surround yourself with people that lie. The truth is important yes, but a person is worth something only when they don't hide it. If you want to be a detective, you should live by that idea."_

_Heiji looked up at his father, listening._

_"I really wonder if you will fit this job, son."_

_After sitting down, Heizou continued as he opened the case file._

_"Actually, i think there are only two acceptable reasons as to why a person would lie to you..."_

_Flashback end-_

* * *

Heiji was determined to find even more stuff than previously. Already having most of the evidence these bastards left behind he turned towards the maze of corridors before him. He left the room not long ago, so all his thoughts already formulated a mess of connections, leaving others behind. Him wanting to leave also had something to do with the fact that there was a lot more on his mind. Shinichi made him think about a few things he didn't consider before, which made him wonder.

_...Maybe he really tried to protect everyone? But saying this type of stuff to someone who actually could do something about it could have helped him so much sooner... Besides, the lack of trust from his side... and all this secrecy... especially after i pieced together every signal Kudo has given. Looking back i really did force myself on him a bit, didn't i? I'm just a **stranger** tagging along, what was i **thinking**... **I'm such an idiot...**_

He took his phone out to take one more good look at the items, but instead slid over a message from Kazuha._ Huh._

It looks like he didn't notice it in his asleep-like state before (which he still had no idea how he got in) and simply looked over it. Same with the missed calls ever since his phone was silent. Besides, checking your phone isn't the first thing you would want to do after being woken up by blaring alarms, the courtesy of the profesor. Thinking back, the last time he checked his phone was back at the_... in this... Wait, was it? No..._Eh, It was no use. The shreds of memories he couldn't even deem real yet weren't making a clear picture, more so a full chronological sequence. There were only flashes, the most strong ones being the cold syringe and his injuries, the pale white bandages and some blurred surroundings. And Kudo, helping out, surprisingly. Nothing solid enough to actually make their investigation or his statement good enough.

_...Anyway, what is she even sending me? I hope it's not about our argument earlier because i ain't apologizin' to no one. No way. Not this time..._ Heiji thought as he opened the weirdly shifting message. There was some letters above but all he could focus on were the changing and moving kanji from the picture he was seeing. Getting cross-eyed he blinked a few times, taking a look again. The mess of numbers and other symbols messed with his eyes, blending together before him in a fuzzy text:

**I bet you were wondering what we did to you, eh, son of the Osaka dogs chief? You escaped having some of our not-yet-fully-tested venom after all. The thing we had the honor of testing on you has many interesting effects. Due to a small amount of people surviving even a week under it, the key word would be torture and fact you can read this? Also an effect. Although we would rather enjoy just having you dead, there is a deal we can strike. I fear that your decision needs to be quick though...**

_...What was...What's this all about? Code?_

***It's about us, Hattori***

***It's about you, too***

***We will make you want to be dead...***

***Just as you should have made yourself be...***

**_*B̷̡̲̙̬̞̃͌͘a̶͔̪͚̦̪̋͌͆͛̈́͗̋c̵̡̢̜̣̣̲̬͉̫̒̈̃͛̎͝͝k̷͖͕͍̈́̂̊͠ ̶̧̨̗̖̼̰̠̝̽̅̈̊̉̓̕t̶͎̳̣͗̀́́̚͠h̷͚͕̾̽̔͘ȅ̷̢̤̼͚̼̺̦̮̐̕n̴̡̯̣̫̤͎͕̹̈́̾͊̅͂̈́͒̽͊,̸̧̺̎̏̅̓ ̵̻̅̾̍͐͘͘̚͝͝e̵͎͇͉̲͚͆̅̑̽͜ͅv̶̟͒͆̋͛̔̀̚e̶̢͉͇̬̩͍͛͊̽̃̀͆͘r̸̘̭̜̜͍̹͎͠y̸̢̮̼̣̪͒̌̃̽ ̶̼̭͓͈͐͆̆̈́t̴̥̦̟͖̤̂̈͋̉̌í̷̮͕͕͕̔̕m̴̹̲̹̳̭̥̞͚̊͒̊̌͝é̷̯̦̒̀̕ͅ.̶͓̰̀̓.̶̗̬̞̻͔̒̆.̴͈̝̫̘̫̼͕̪̓̔̓̀̆͋͝ͅ*_**

***It's pointless to resist, It's pointless to escape...***

***You will wish you died a painless death by your own hand...***

***You shouldn't be alive...***

Hattori looked around in panic, the surge of louder and louder voices having no real source in the empty hallway. His skin started burning underneath, his head swimming in a sea of noises and feeling every one of them bring pain along. He didn't understand what was going on, getting more and more memories from his time back here. The feeling became familiar, encompassing him all around just like a few times before. He closed his phone, getting the ominous message away, moving towards the maze, trying to escape from the sensation. The voices however pressured him to follow the trial he used before to run towards a room, a cave filled with everything he hated. Not being able to stand the torture, he took a piece of glass from the floor and slashed it across his hand to regain control, the pressure in his head and blood slowly leaving his body as he was left in a daze.

He has to say, things weren't pretty. The shreds of memories this room awakened slowly made sense. There didn't need to be a reason. A twist of fate caused it all, as most of the things in his life. Options running through his mind merged with the truth, finally seen. This all was something that was supposed to make him break himself, to self-destruct, to destroy himself bit by bit until the torture stops as everything else would. He now remembers taking the sharp rocks from the ground, slitting his hands when he tried to answer the call. He remembers closing the door of the house, so determined and pressured he threw himself on the wall, getting up to search for the knife to slice his face on. He remembers desperately scratching every wound to stop the constant nagging, his every nerve sending signals that were beyond his control. They probably planned to get information out of him with this, no doubt about it. Or maybe it was really a test that turned out good since he knew some of their targets already...

Furrowing his eyebrows he looked around the room. A week? The most important thing is already done, and he sure as hell will still chase these fuckers.

Taking off some older bandages he stopped the bleeding again, covering his hand with the sleeve of his hoodie. Shaking his head, he focused again. The room he was in still had evidence in it, and so he got to work.

There was a pole he remembered being tied to, some of his blood and handcuffs still on the ground. The gag they used was discarded in the trash bin, some more documents and cloth also in it. There was some equipment he remembers seeing as he searched for the vials, now toppled over with everything broken or spilled. _...Guess they were in a hurry, since one call from me would have done it. It's better for us i guess, since we get to analyze the place even before the cops are planning to check it. There is some doubts about them even finding this room since it takes the whole maze to get here but still, he will take it nonetheless._

The place is mostly empty, every closet and drawer useless and most objects destroyed. There seems to be some other blood here, splattered on the wall. Now that Heiji looks a bit closer, it all looks like not only purposeful damage but also a struggle. Taking a sample of the blood from the wall, he plans to analyze their first biological identity clue later. Was there a fight he didn't see? He needed to know who it was. Closing his eyes he forms a plan as to how to deal with both the case and his... **situation**... all at once, he exhales a pained sigh.

With nothing in his mind, he leaves.

Kudo took his eyes off Hattori for a _second_ and he already wandered away. _Amazing._ Just as he was about to storm out after low snickers from Ai became full blown barks of laughter at his frustration, Hattori appears in the hallway. The boy in question looks uncertain for a second longer, before lowering his eyelids and gesturing for the others that they should pack up, ignoring the laughter and the whole ordeal.

"Were you... outside this whole time? Please say yes." Kudo asks while sweating as Haibara laughs at his pathetic attempts to make the situation better.

Hattori looks confused for a second, catching on to the whole point. Seems like Kudo tried to keep an eye on him since Ai ordered him so, apparently failing. _That's what you get for your lack of communication skills, ahou._ "Y-Yeah sure, just went through the evidence again. Coud'av said i learned... more than i wanted. Were you in here the whole time then?" Heiji asked, playing along.

"Phew... See, it wasn't that bad! I kept him in check. Through a wall. It wasn't that far." Kudo turned to Ai who nodded in satirizing manner. Profesor just squinted lightly at Hattori, years making it easier for him to spot a lie. Heiji looked away as if to increase his chances, to no avail. The normally warm man gave a particularly cold stare, almost shutting up most of the voices still disorienting Hattori. Feeling dazed yet again he sat down outside as he saw no one ready to give in to his suggestion on leaving. Not that it mattered anyways since the cops will come here in 20 minutes. What Hattori did _NOT_ expect was Kudo at his back again, following him out alone.

"Ya one ready to leave yet? You spend a lot of time with these guns and bleaches, i think it's tha' high time you got some air." Hattori said as he slid down the wall, Shinichi following his actions.

"I'm totally fine. The only thing that's not well is the goosebumps i get when thinking about... this _place..._ and what transpired in it. Who knows how long it was here? hidden..." Shinichi sighed, resting his head against the wall same as Hattori. It was relaxing for a minute, the two males not doing anything beside sitting comfortably next to each other. Then Shinichi broke the silent moment. "I still wonder how... and from where, you got the antidotes in this place." Kudo started this again, Hattori cursing in his mind. "Hattori, please, there might be something useful if you just try to remember." Hattori heard it all but he just rested his head on the cement once more. Back in the room he decided to not tell Kudo until later, leaving the details out, but he was not ready and too tired to tell it all properly now at Kudo's request.

Shinichi could see the dark circles under his eyes, the tired irises trying to stay on him but failing. Heiji replied however, evidently sleepy;

"What is there to say? I was pathetic, got caught, stole some stuff and had enough luck to escape. I was running on pure instinct and now you can be yourself. Nothin' more to say." He shook himself before he would fall asleep where he sat, standing up. Kudo followed, determined. "What do you mean 'Nothing more'?! What about all these wounds and cuts all over you?! What about the people that did this?! What about you hiding stuff from me?!" Kudo said sternly, holding his ground.

_...I really don't want to do this now. Can't you just give up for once? You did before, why not now?_

"I did what i thought was best. You ever saw yoself' talking about these guys, you would understand! I won't put you near them, especially if i can deal with it _alone_. Trust works both ways, therefore what i did was none of your business." Kudo was surprised at this, also noticing how Heiji avoided his other questions. He frowned even deeper at his friend's stubbornness.

"None of my business?! These guys are _TOTALLY_ my business! I can't believe you would hide such a thing... If i didn't call i wouldn't even _know..._"

"Well i have done it and that's that, so how about we just finish the job and i can take myself somewhere where people actually _trust_ me. Unlike one person i know."

_"Are you serious?"_

Hattori just closed his eyes for a bit longer, thinking about his words again. "I get it, you did it all to _protect_ us. I get it. Maybe i shouldn't have engaged with them, for all i know they didn't even have me on their target list. I just_...I wanted to help you out for once, you always end up being the one that...just like..._" Heiji stopped and looked away, making himself seem smaller yet again. "I trusted you, i wanted for you to do the same. Maybe** i wasn't good enough for that**, eh? Just like for most of the time... "

Kudo's face slacked a bit, anger being replaced with worry. He has been meaning to ask Hattori about all the stuff he said in the house, the depressed remarks and self-hate he kept mumbling while in there. He guessed his self-esteem took a blow from something but he never would have guessed it was _his_ fault on such a big part. Even now he didn't look well, stressed and uncertain, looking like he just wanted to be someplace safe.

"I guess i'm sorry too. I regret not telling you," Kudo looked guilty, his true emotions showing themselves. "but i just ...couldn't. If something happened i don't know what i would do... I would never expect that someone so similar to me could do anything in the matter, especially since i tried in every way i knew on my own already. Guess i just needed someone with different perspective instead of searching for these things only in myself." Kudo smiled slightly, now fully ready to finally begin tracking the organization with some more help by his side. "I do trust you, Heiji. Now i have no reason to deal with this alone."

His smile stayed in it's place as the young detective before him sleepily returned it, grumbling "Yeah, i'm glad. Now, get them out of that place - I think Ai got high on all this bleach by now."

Kudo didn't want to leave Hattori again so he just pretty much yelled through a slightly opened door for his friends to stop looking at the damn guns and come back.

"I think we can get going now, _partner._"

* * *

It was a pretty tiring hour, Shinichi has to admit. Even if he slept during the day just as his fellow scientists, the lulling hum of the car and the calm night made all their eyes close no matter what. Haibara and he argued about sitting in the front seat for some time before the drive, Shinichi having both the traffic laws and power on his side - yet _she took it_. Now Shinichi had nothing better to do than to stare into her back, hoping some of his focused malice will get through.

He and Hattori were on the back seats, Hattori already out of it. He fell asleep about 5 minutes after the first turn, just as Kudo was about to ask if he's tired. It raised some problems as they were close to the lab and getting him out all passed out will be difficult, but what Kudo thought more of were the things he learned today. All the evidence, names, layout and the maze fresh in his mind, current situation not mattering for a moment of calm conclusions. He had a feeling his friends had an idea about how to track these guys as everything related helped if even just a tad, just as he had a feeling that trust was slowly being rebuild where it needed to be. It wasn't, and never was, in a tragic condition as the two always got along - but he still was frustrated that his friend's psychological state went unnoticed until he was hurt enough to speak without filter that one night.

Just as he was looking out the window to see the last few turns to their destination take place, Heiji leaned on him, still asleep.

He stilled immediately, carefully looking at his shoulder, currently occupied by his friend. The surprise was momentary, quickly being replaced with '_i have no idea what to do_' feeling. Now he was getting the impression that their trust was swinging from high to low depending on how asleep Hattori was, which Kudo found amusing a bit. _Curious_.

He put his free hand on his head gently, not even knowing why he executed such motion so many times lately. He found himself frowning with worry as the temperature was slightly raised, his hand surely feeling colder to his friend. It weirded him out that it stayed the same during the entire day ever since he checked yesterday, since he doesn't think it's good. He has to ask Agasa for some pills for that fever - it's becoming worrisome.

Interestingly enough he let his hand rest there for longer as he was under the impression Hattori got some comfort off of it. Normally he doesn't allow anyone to touch him, yet in his sleep or while being just simply tired he gets all _touchy-touchy_. Kudo smirked, feeling like he found some hidden clue about his friend.

The crickets were loud in the tall grass that night, some stars visible between the dark clouds. The yellow car moved softly against the black road, smoothly driving upwards to park. The two of his friends exited the car as they stopped in the garage, almost like zombies seeking some bed, not even wasting a second to say "Bye".

Shinichi was about to wake Heiji up to get inside by slightly shaking him awake by the arm - but just as he touched it firmly, Heiji immediately curled against him in discomfort. Surprised, Kodo let go quickly and observed for anything else. When his friend didn't move any more, he gently touched his forearm once more. Going towards the wrist he grabbed the sleeve and pulled it up towards his shoulder, revealing a fresh and still bleeding cut going across the whole space. His eyes widened and he looked again if Hattori had woken up, but he was still fast asleep. He inspected the fresh wound gently, feeling miserable by just looking at it.

_...How did that get here? What happened?_ \- He thought, covering it back up again. -_...It looks like it was just made, there is no way it's from two days ago. Did he try to hide it from us? He would need to, if it happened so recently...but why?_ \- Kudo stayed on the back seat, deep in thoughts. He tried his best to combine all his clues into what could have led to this, thinking in his lethargic-like state once more.

_... Some days back, Hattori started to seek an opportunity to track the BO. Seems like he noticed all the incidents recorded that i didn't tell him about, apparently somehow getting the more advanced database to view this time. He planned it all to get an antidote for me (maybe to prove himself) and help out in tracking my number 1 enemy...alone. He did something that got him caught, the BO taking him in the place (since he recognized some surroundings) and drugging him, guessing by the injection site on his shoulder and his weakened state later on in house. By some miracle, a mistake or a desired action he got released and escaped. When he went on his investigation he did something to upset Kazuha, most probably not taking her with this one time, hence how i got involved. Apparently he got hurt, which got me to follow to check what's up. He gets weird, cries, (which i understand, ever since feeling the release from being Conan and the fear and hope mixed before it) and has some suspicious incident with the knife in the house. The wounds were done in different times, by different things, suggesting a returning attacker or a chase, even though it seemed safe. There was nothing suspicious in the house except some more unexpected blood...Then, he sleeps off his injuries when i try to get more clues on the location and BO plans, apparently giving Ai an idea that led to her findings today. We have a few leads from the 'base' she found and yet still Hattori is not getting better, new injuries from unknown origin appearing yet again looking only hours old. That he had no idea about. He is sure his conjecture is at least 90% correct using common sense, but also 50% incomplete as the case isn't done yet..._

He looks back at his darker-skinned friend, still feeling his steady heartbeat against his shoulder, and then looks outside. He evens his breathing without thinking, matching that of his sleeping friend. There was this unexplained feeling growing in him... a feeling that he needed to protect his wounded friend. They really should stop the habit of falling asleep close, but with his face against a window Kudo dismisses it, falling into a void yet again.


	11. Chapter 11-Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

**_This is the longest joke i have ever written._ I just gotta make him suffer, it's just my nature.**

* * *

_Morning, Agasa's bedroom_

The sun has not even rose high enough to reach Agasa's windows, yet there was some small footsteps heard already. Ai got herself a big black coffee, having slept the most amazing and time consuming nap ever - Maybe spending so much time in that place did good on her insomnia? She will have to analyze that later.

Now though she woke up the also (still) heavenly sleeping professor, his old bed creaking as he got up to stop the godawful light that shone upon him from the freshly turned on lamp.

"Morning." Ai said, her emotionless voice thick with tiredness. She gave Agasa the coffee, continuing shortly after. "It's like 7. Guess who slept in the ca-ar."

The profesor got his glasses off the table, putting them on and continuing onward to make breakfast in the kitchen. There was some left over pancakes to heat, and so the man had decided to get some ready. " I mean, isn't it interesting how these guys just get along so well? I mean come onnnnnnnnnn. Although there is one thing that may have caused this along some other things." Ai followed after the man who gingerly put her up the high counter top to continue. "I'm almost amused by how much the black organization relies on poison and venom these days. Not more than on guns, but still." She made a pause as she sipped her own coffee, the fluffy cream staying on her upper lip, the taste staying on her lips. Agasa covered the rolled pancakes so they heat on the inside too, turning fully towards the woman. " I guess i want to check on that injection wound the boy has, just to be sure and all..."

"Do you think he was... tested on? Or better, do you have any proof of anything so far?" Agasa furrowed his brow, thinking intensely about everything he had learned in the previous days as well. This whole thing was fishy and unstable ever since the beginning, something missing and incoming evident in the air.

"I have his blood from the house. I will get to it as soon as my station is unoccupied."

Agasa's eyes widened in surprise, curiosity and amusement taking over as he asked, "Who would be checking blood at this hour? And why?"

Ai nodded towards the room with a sly smirk of amusement on her own. "I don't know. Ask Hattori when he's done."

Agasa squinted again, verifying if the girl was serious. He peeked out. _She was serious._

"What the hell is he doing?" Agasa asked, now scratching his head in confusion himself. Haibara looked once more, then back towards the kitchen, her eyes going over to the slightly blackened pancakes. "Professor, your pancakes."

The professor looked quickly, dismissing the boy's behavior for later and coming back to his pancakes in a fast trot.

"He is a detective after all, i can only guess he is beginning the investigation. He will probably steal my computer for a bit too - But hey, at least he asks politely."

"..."

"Kids these days, i swear."

"Yeah."

"Did you say Kudo is asleep in my car or was that my hearing playing tricks on me?"

"He's totally sleeping. I feel as if he_...deserves_ some more nap time anyway." Agasa slid the pancakes over to her plate, as well as readying some for Kudo and his early-working friend.

"Will you show me the results once they are in? If you have such suspicions, we may need to think about either our or his safety pretty soon. -

...I fear for that boy, for his mental state and all the negative effects this danger he put himself under in such a short amount of days caused. Now i would at least have an excuse for being overprotective instead of just going with the gut... Even if we don't get anything, let's just have some caution anyway, especially since we don't know if any of it actually had any effect."

"I'm pretty surprised the kid held off so well after experiencing what the organization has in stock. Most of the kids and even adults that have a member as even family, end up in mental hospitals - Most end up being traumatized after being used for the organization as bait or simply under pressure, becoming; hostile, suicidal, depressed or dangerous."

"Right... Although i guess he could have locked his memories away as a self-defense mechanism?"

"Yeah, that works."

"Ah, i remember what it took sometimes to calm you two down from your experiences. I swear, you guys getting better is one of my better deeds."

"..."

Agasa finished the conversation with a quick pat to Ai's head, giving her the plate to deliver to Kudo. The brisk morning looked pretty from the window but deep down she knew it was cold enough to regret coming out. Shrugging, she left it on the table.

* * *

Heiji was pretty involved in getting the results quickly. He couldn't waste any more time, waste any more opportunities, waste any more information...

The thing that led him to the OB location was a series of crimes, 2 shootings and one chemical poisoning if he recalls correctly. All were solved, if by 'solved' you mean finding the identity of people that did it as just 'guys in black' and never succeeding in tracking them. That's what picked his attention that day at the precinct. The dudes were not afraid to show themselves, unlike previous majority of cases with BO involved, which meant opportunity. So he saw an opening, and took it, following.

And then he fucked up.

He looked through these cases again, remembering the names as the ones on the target list down in the base. He was sure the police figured it out too, probably starting to hunt the people once more having all the stuff from base to parse however they want. The other people from the list will hopefully be protected for the time being - although some of them may be criminals themselves, which he hopes the guys will take care of too.

Looking through his phone again as the mysterious blood from the wall was analyzed he stumbled upon another message from Kazuha. This one was newer than the last one, having been waiting for some time in his inbox.

Thinking it was going to give some more information again like the last time he prepared himself, locking the room and taking a few deep breaths. He didn't know the limits of this 'venom' the text was talking about earlier, so it was just in case. Surprisingly enough the voices were quiet when he woke up today, so he felt alright enough to try, but that was the least surprising thing that morning...

_Flashback-_

_He feels so hot and yet so cold as he slowly awakes. It was a pretty good nap, but that's enough of that, so his eyes flutter open. Taking a second to look around, he notices that this is the professor's car - the scent of the base from earlier still lingering inside. He was wondering if it affected his sleep so much he actually took a good rest, deciding to look into it later._

_There was no sun out yet so he guessed it was pretty early, if him yawning and stretching weren't a sign clear enough. Looking up, he froze._

_Kudo Shinichi, leaning against the car window, his hand on Hattori's back._

_'Holy Sh-' -Hattori thought as he stared motionlessly at his friend, still fast asleep and breathing evenly. _

_...Wait a minute, did i miss something? The last thing i remember doing was closing my eyes watching the road! I wouldn't forget... about this!..._

_Hattori elevated Kudo's hand from his back, instantly missing the warmth it provided. Looking curiously at the other detective he tried to understand the events that led to their predicament, giving up after a while. Seems like they both just passed out. Thinking now, it wasn't often he had an opportunity to see Kudo so relaxed and calm, no focused stare or stern expression... It was even rarer than seeing the other smile honesty, and so he stared for too long. He thought about giving the detective his hoodie to warm him up but quickly remembered that he needed it to cover his wounds instead._

_Shaking himself awake once more he carefully left the car as to not wake the other, leaving the comfort behind so he can finish his work with determination._

_Flashback End-_

The message was easier to see this time, the words coming together way faster than before. He saw the text but the fast rush made him wait a few moments until the floor stopped shaking before actually reading.

**_We can have a deal for an antidote, you know? You won't walk it off, i assure you, so it will have to come to this eventually. Everyone breaks, you will be no exception. We know where your friend is living, so how about just bringing us Kudo Shinichi instead of you two dying? It's better to just get it over with instead of pointlessly searching for things you won't find..._**

After a bit of silence as Heiji absorbed the meaning, he cursed.

"Fucking bastards." Heiji mumbled, throwing his phone on his desk. "You think you have the upper hand? We will find all ya' rats before you even think about getting another target!" He was way more confident now, feeling a surge of motivation upon learning exactly what they are planning. The friend they talked about was probably Kazuha, because he knew from the documents it wasn't Kudou they located.

The certainty didn't last long however, as the familiar hell returned to take him over just as he unlocked the door.

* * *

Kaito was on his way to the lab he knows Shinichi is residing in currently, a spring in his step. The morning was moist and cold, the sun fooling you to exit for it's warmness but freezing you with the ground. He was walking freely now, just some basic gadgets with him as he knew the area was swarming with police ever since they found a base of the wanted and despised criminals- so no worries about unexpected attackers. He was here to talk about BO, not defending the lab.

Done all things he was due and with no heists to plan for now, the young thief came here to pay such a visit. Having knocked on the door twice to get inside and help figure stuff out he was fully ready for some action - also planning to share where BO planned to move if not for the... interruption, which he knew and will describe in all detail once he gets inside. He still wants to ask Hattori about some stuff later, even if he will have to either reveal himself or pretend to be Shinichi to do so. When no one answered his knocking, the slightly impatient guest moved towards the garage to get inside.

Turning towards the doors he entered, the huge yellow car taking most of the space. Looking around he turned on the singular light, the bulb taking a few seconds to light. Just as there was some, the thief flinched as he saw a **body** in the vehicle.

"_What the-!_"

He looked closer and relaxed as he saw the person breathing. Curious and kind of sour for spooking him, he opened the door to reveal no other than a sleeping Kudo Shinichi, the culprit. Holding the doors he thought it would be funny to repay for such a scare with an equal one, and so he slammed the car closed with a loud _SLAM_.

Kudo jumped in his seat, disoriented and satisfying to watch for the laughing thief. - _...Got you good. - _He opened the doors once more, getting his head closer to Kudo, finishing his charades and actually getting to the question on his mind.

"So, were you locked out of the house and needed to _sleep_ in the _car_? That's harsh bro. Would almost mistake you for a corpse if not for my knowledge about how cold your pals can be on the daily." He guessed offhandedly, staring unimpressed at the detective who was trying to calm his breath and sent him an angry glare at the same time. Kudo finally shot him the infamous look, finally seeing the cause of his total and unwanted awareness so early in the morning, answering with an irritated tone-

"What are you doing here? Did you learn something?" Kudo exited the car shaking, his legs stiff from sleeping in the car. Giving him a smirk, Kaito replied: "I just visited to help out, i assume you guys still need some of that. Besides, i have questions. Now let's get you out of here, 'cause i would _loveeeeeee_ to hear a story about the oh-so-popular top-tire class detective sleeping outside in a car." Kaito gave Shinichi a hand and after he was fully out of the car, opening the garage door to the room inside.

"Wait a minute. About that..." Kudo suddenly stopped and looked around as if he was searching for something, a hint of uncertainty in his posture and eyes. He then shook his head, a lost smile on his face. "Of course he would be up already, just saves me some embarrassment. Still will be awkward thoughhhhhhgod."

Kaito was pretty much shocked for solid 2 seconds, mouth agape-

"Wait, _wHAT_?"

* * *

The two had walked inside, sitting near the table not long after, eagerly eating pancakes prepared earlier. Then, Kaito gave his proposition.

"I kinda came to help you guys. From what i'm seeing, this is the biggest slip up of the BO, letting someone get away and all... Might be a big chance for us." Kaito said with a piece of pancake on his fork, suddenly more serious.

"That's... true. If we act fast we just might catch them in this mess."

"Wouldn't be so sure though. They might be even more organized than ever, especially since there is a chance it's all... planned."

"You really think that? So far everything is fine -

_besides,_ what letting him go would have given them? There wasn't any location-sharing tech on him, no strings... It might be just the miracle we were waiting for, catching them off guard when they underestimated the enemy."

"Yeah, still, if i might i would want to talk to him and ask some stuff. How did he even escape? I gotta ask. You know where he is?"

"I literally just woke up. Maybe try askin-"

Heiji opened the door, stepping out. He looked horrid and pale, even darker circles under his eyes ever since last Kudo saw him. There was a sheet of paper in his hand and a lit phone, catching the attention of the two.

"Ah, Heiji, i believe we weren't introduced properly before. Name's Kaito, your new ally." Kid stood, extending his hand for Hattori to shake. Shinichi looked at the two, curious as to what Heiji was holding and what he has found.

"...Oh, I heard about 'cha. Actually, i believe the Osaka police also got an order to catch you any chance they get..." Heiji shook his hand, the weak grip surprising Kid as he expected some more force put into it. Nevertheless, he listened to the Osakan, optimistic: "I'm glad you decided to join. And just as we have a new clue as well! What a coincidence..." Heiji grinned, the smile not quite reaching his eyes. Shinichi stood, eyeing Hattori's posture and condition for a second, then asking curiously- "Did you find something, Hattori?"

Heiji turned, a new flash of determination in his eyes. "I found a big thing, pal. An identity we can follow! The only thing left to do is just find some connections and places, which..." Heiji gave Kid a document to read on apparently some person involved with the organization to research, and announced eagerly "I want our new ally tah' check. Sounds alright?"

Kid gave him a smirk, nodding. Walking away inside the room, he closed the door loudly as he got to work.

The two detectives were left in the kitchen now, Hattori looking around through some old books Agasa kept around. Shinichi had a feeling things were finally getting better, especially when they finally have a solid continuation to their investigation. He noticed Hattori looking towards the room Kid was in, as if checking if he's doing alright.

_...That's interesting. Maybe he wants to test him? Not trusting right away, huh Hattori? Not that i specifically, well, **worry** that Kaito would do something stupid in a friend's house when the matter is that heavy - quite the contrary - i predict he and Hattori might become a good team in time..._

_...Now, there is one matter i would also like to talk about..._

"Hey Hattori, good job with the clue. Where was it, exactly?" Shinichi said offhandedly as he took a chair and sat across from the armchair the other detective was occupying.

Heiji looked up from some book that he found, apparently not interesting enough to keep him from a conversation, and just a bit of pride entered his eyes. Like he was prepared for the question. "Found some blood on tah' floor, a speck really, but enough. I hope that we can get something from this... And yah, thanks. Wouldn't have found nothin' if not for you all gettin me there."

"Yeah. I would say we are _almost_ ready to start this all "chase" thing."

"Wait, what ya' mean _almost?_ I already made the investigation official, there is literally nothin-!" Hattori cut off as Shinichi's hand landed on his forehead, surprise making his eyebrows rise. The detective was confused for a second, then his brows started furrowing.

"Uh..Kudo? Buddy, what'cha doing?" He asked, perplexed, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Checking your fever." Kudo said as he slowly removed his palm, a triumphant smile on his face, Hattori missing the hand's coolness immediately after. Kudo stood up, his chair squeaking as he did so.

Going into the kitchen, opening a cabinet and taking a basket out of it, Kudo started going through it as if searching. There was quite a few drugs and medication inside, all labeled and colorful. He went around inside it, the bottles clinking and the small boxes rustling against each other after every move. Professor always kept a lot of these things, was it for emergencies or just to stay healthy. Some of them were even self-made, as the old man worked in every direction of science he could, succeeding often.

Hattori didn't even notice as Shinichi closed in again, leaving two medium-sized pills in his hand.

"Take them, it should bring it down."

Heiji kept silent for a moment, still kinda bewildered, a question tugging at his mind.

"How did you know?"

"Well, you were a _real_ heater last night. Certainly helped to survive the cold morning today..." Kudo looked at Hattori, who obviously caught onto what Kudo was communicating. He started his stuttering.

"Ah, I'm so s-sorry about that! ...You should have just woke me up, man!" Heiji was now blushing like a tomato, ashamed for his actions. - ._..It was totally my fault, right? Aw man, i probably trapped him under myself... Couldn't i have stayed awake for just a couple' minutes longer? I'm such an idiot..._

"Yah' don't even know how embarrassed i am..." Heiji looked away from an unknowingly smiling detective across from him, taking some water as he downed the pills in shame.

"It wasn't a problem, like, at all. I wouldn't have known you were so feverish, and..." Kudo stopped, his grin disappearing for a second. Then he continued, apparently deciding to keep some thought to himself. "Anyway, i guess i had a small debt to pay. I stole about 1/4 of your bed when you were first brought here, so it's only fair, right?" He locked eyes with Hattori, his blush still present at his cheeks. He found himself reddening some as well as the awkward silence lasted a few more seconds.

Then Shinichi picked up the book that his friend left earlier, opening on a random page to stop the overwhelming quiet.

"You like these books?" Shinichi asked offhandedly, reading the description.

"Not much, but my dad does. I guess we have different tastes, although i doubt he would have time to actually compare 'em."

"Huh."

Kid entered the room again, the document in his hand. "Alright guys, I got more info on this guy. The only thing to do is to follow! I- _Uh-_" His voice filled the room as he got all the needed info, stopping when he saw the situation. Kudo and Hattori sitting across each other, both reading books they don't like? It irked curiosity in Kaito, and so he continued quickly. "What's up with you two?"

He crossed his arms expectantly, Heiji cutting his hopes for an answer short after an extremely fast beat of _nothing-happened-look_.

"Nothin'. Show me what you found, you feather disaster." He walked towards the other quickly now, picking up another feather from the floor on his way. Shinichi huffed from over his chair, throwing Kaito a look saying "_seriously, again?_"

Kaito nodded, ignoring the other blue-eyed high-schooler as he told Hattori about his findings. Folding the document titled '_William J. Uj _' and the list of people related to him, putting it near his stuff to go, Heiji started setting up a map with Kaito still by his side. Kudo just stared at the two, mouth agape, as his predictions started coming true way quicker than expected.

Still, texting Haibara and the professor he looked towards Hattori's arm, covered once more by the thick material of his grey hoodie.

* * *

It was awkward for some time as they were about to leave, giving both friends a small signal that they should '_talk_' to pass some time. Unfortunately, Hattori didn't want to talk even if Shinichi tried to get him to. He got some good coffee, set up chairs again, cleared the table and even shown him the true antitoxin again but nothing grabbed the other boy's attention.

He was kinda hoping Hattori would slip up and tell him the reason for his 'injuries', or explain his depressed remarks from the house for some time now, finally deciding to take some action and forming a plan to ease Hattori into telling him.

So he went with something he knew would grab Heiji's attention and make it easier for him to talk.

"Ow, goddammittt! " He said as he cut his finger by 'accident' on some kitchen equipment. Heiji flinched looking in his direction, a confused expression on his face. It looked like he was just reading something on his phone, the sudden voice startling him a bit. Shinichi held his hand while standing up, still bleeding and making some colorful remarks.

"You alright?" Hattori asked, getting closer. _Got him._ Kaito caught onto Kudo's 'accident' with amusement, and so he watched. It was also a part of his curiosity speaking to just observe, and so he did.

"Sure, but i forgot where the band-aids are..." Shinichi suggested lowly, relieved when Hattoris eyes traveled to the drawers near the medication drawer he took earlier. "Lemme find 'em for ya. No way i'm letting your bloodied hands go through all that stuff." Hattori said as he searched around, more energetic than before. Shinichi had a good feeling as he felt some connection forming, his hand slowly getting numb. Both of them injured might be a first thing he needed for Heiji to finally open the fuck up, and his friend's caring nature can help them start.

As Heiji got closer with some rubbing alcohol and a band-aid he thought about what exactly he can say to get Hattori to spill about his own injuries. His head was pretty much empty, though.

Surprisingly, Heiji talked first as he finished disinfecting the area around his fingers. "I know i didn't tell you before... but thanks for patching me up earlier. It... really helped." - Kudo looked at him surprised, quickly thinking about what to say. Leaving little time to be happy about his strategy working, Heiji continued his thought. "Even though it surely was awkward right? I don't remember it all that well..." just as he finished applying the band aid to Shinichi's hand, he found himself finally looking at his friend's face again, expecting an answer.

"N-No problem." Kudo answered, eager to try and get more answers now that Heiji was more peaceful and less stressed towards him. Then he got his words straight, bringing his slow tactic to a stop.

"Do you wounds hurt still though? Maybe i can patch you up better soon?" He lightly suggested, the unspoken fact hanging above both of them. Shinichi reached for his injured arm, a questioning look on his face, hoping to get his companion to continue. Heiji immediately shifted, looking rather._.. terrified? _ in Shinichi's general direction. He corrected his posture and tried to answer quickly with a simple; "No, it's all good." just before he went back to his previous place hurriedly, like a dog with his tail between his legs. Shinichi cursed at his failure, looking at Kaito who was still watching the two like a hawk, squinting at his completely not-hidden amusement.

Kudo started frustratingly picking at his band-aid, obviously pissed.

"I guess there is something i'm not a part of here happening, no?" The thief asked, once more checking the bags they prepared for the ride. The person that Heiji insisted would give some information about the BO went missing for a few years, just as they supposed a BO member would. He had a wife however, but that unfortunately lived in another Japanese town ever since the marriage. She had been reported for assaults and drug use, so she lives under the watchful eyes of some police now, nevertheless having some sort of knowledge about the Organization still from her husband, as she said he still visits. The thing must have messed her life up pretty bad, huh? The plan was to get her to talk about all the incidents Hattori was so curious about, trying to interrogate her even if the police failed so many times before.

Now basically the 5 of them just got ready to investigate for a longer time packing up, simply getting stuff and registering their investigation as official full on now (which was set easily ever since Kudo is a famous detective and Heiji knew most of the police protocol and decided to not leave mess for his dad to clean this time) so there was just a few things left to do and they can ride. All they knew about the guy so far was that he was tied to these guys and that he was a chemistry teacher, formerly a scientist. It fit almost perfectly ever since the BO surely had to replace Haibara or have someone take over her studies, so they were about 90% sure it had became his new position. The fact that he might be the creator of the antitoxin even she couldn't reverse was making him seem like a very important piece and a smart person, alas they planned to proceed carefully and swiftly.

The thing between these two however, Shinichi was executing with no caution whatsoever. Or maybe some, but not enough.

Kudo sighed, sitting down defeated. After a moment of silence, he murmured; "How do you make a person spill without too much pressure?"

Kaito thought for a second, a flash of some talkative policemen and loud girls spilling everything every time he was around going through his head. He also remembered his own tactics at avoiding conversation, many other teens at his school coming to mind.

"I guess it depends on a person." He says finally. "You can pressure a person just enough, assure them into a false sense of security, straight up solve the case, trap them, torture them..."

"Nah, that's not what i mean." Shinichi put his head in his hands, his normal tactics with criminals and some tactics he knew from the police also playing before his eyes. He started to understand just why it was so easy for him to destroy criminals now - he never needed to be friends with them, or care about them, or see them again at all - when here the situation is different, multiple signals telling him to back off when he simply couldn't screw things up.

"Hattori is... a friend. When he got tired enough or was occupied by some task, i heard some... less-than-healthy statements, randomly coming from him like never before. I guess you can say the situation is delicate. Touchy subject..." Kudo sighed, looking up once more.

Kaito's eyes widened, catching onto the weight of these words. He realized. At least, he thought he realized.

"_Oh._"

Now, Kaito knew Kudo well. Was it because of the time spent with him, his stories, conversations, or other sources. Before this fiasco with him being Conan and seeing things from such perspective, Kudo only had Ran as a true friend. (how was she, by the way?) He didn't want to call him straight up unsocial or cold, because he changed a lot since, but he figured emotions and psychology need to be on a certain level when you are planning on dealing with criminals every day, in certain directions too...

Besides, any bit of time Conan spent improving these skills he was around children, them being '_his age_', or just pretending before people who were older, leaving only a small portion to improve around his type of confidants. The time he spent bored in a child's skin also took some of his ability to actually stay sane, more so learn how to keep others sane as well.

Kaito furrowed his brows, throwing any advice he had on mind just to fill the silence. "Read about it? Treat him like you would yourself is such state? Make him trust you enough?" ..._Wait._

_...There is one thing i wanna know before all this._

"Why do you even **want** to help him that bad?"

Kudo was silent, his fingers stopping texting Ran for advice and checking the internet. He looked focused, as if he was trying to figure out a fresh case with a fresh piece of evidence, and hesitatingly opened his mouth a few times - just to shut it after a second.

"You're starting to look like a fish, Kudo. - Anyway - normally you leave that kind of people to their own devices. What made you so determined to help Heiji? You think you can handle it just because he is your friend?"

"..."

"Or maybe you're guilty? Maybe some of it was your fault and now you are trying to repair some damage you overlooked?"

"..."

"Or maybe it's something you can't explain. A new thing for you. Something that..." Kaito looked back at Shinichi, staring into him like a picture. "...You can't even understand?"

Kaito gave his friend a last smirk as the phone buzzed, most probably Ran answering Kudo's messages. Leaving the detective to his own thoughts, Kaito went scavenging for some more coffee.


	12. Chapter 12-One mystery before the storm

**Hello.**

**Changes in chapter/ story cause i'm not sure about nothing.**

**But that just means more alternate universes, if someone decides to pick it up?**

* * *

It didn't matter how far away they seemed, he could still hear it. Although there was a lot of pretty trees he could divert his attention to, the nice new road, the buildings lit brightly from the inside, it was still all heard. From the left, from the right, from the front and from the back...

***Die already***

***These bandages won't help you anymore***

***You're worthless***

***How stubborn, still being alive...***

***You will never succeed...***

Hattori looked through the window of the car, trying to distract himself, trying- being the keyword. Shinichi was calmly and persistently continuing to uncomfortably stare at him the whole ride, which didn't help much. The voices he was accustomed to hearing really got on his nerves, but now Kudo on top of that?

_Why are you doing this to me man?_

_...Oh. wait. I get it. He's just angry because he feels weird. Or angry at me. Or confused. Well tough luck, i felt the same every time you hid a case from me, and recently when you pretended to care, so you deserve it. I guess._

_It sucks, i know._

He had a piece of glass in his pocket, just for safety measures after the incident in the locked room. He noticed that the glass itself made less 'needed' damage and still managed to hurt him enough to bring him back to his senses, and so he took it. The attacks were proving to be unexpected and frequent, so he wanted to have an emergency exit. Although he also saw a familiar knife that Shinichi took with him (for unknown reasons) from the time in the house when he lost it, so maybe he can snatch that later? It did work the first few times and Kudo's pretty distracted by the BO... and staring at Hattori, apparently.

Of course, he didn't have much time to wonder about it more as he still felt two eyes eagerly staring at him, disrupting the process. Intensely, might he add, his friend examined him as if he was some enigmatic piece of evidence for him to connect to the crime. For him, it was already beyond annoying.

"Can you stop staring at me?!" Heiji snapped and turned to face Kudo, their gazes locked together.

"No." Kudo snapped back, his expression never changing. He looked just about how Hattori felt, with this bored expression on his young face.

_ugHHHHHHHHHHH. SO, Let's try something else._

"I literally have no idea what's yo' problem! Do i have something on my face or what?! " Hattori shouted, his friend making him even more irritated as he ignored him. Heiji just rolled his eyes as the staring continued, looking out the window towards the moving landscape once more, swearing revenge. "Wish i could figure that out myself..."

Ai, as usual, watched the whole thing happening with amusement. She had a calm expression on her face, a knowing look in her and profesor Agasa's eyes. Ever since they left the house, it seemed like the little girl was both on her best behavior, and worst. Even Kaito was confused about it. - "Well maybe you have to change your mind to figure it out? Thinking outside the box might help... " Heiji side-eyed the girl, a questioning look blossoming on his face just as Kudo mirrored his expression himself. She acted like she wanted to help them both out, but this was nonsense. What was she, an 'useless advice generator'? It looked like it.

"_What? _" He and Kudo answered at the same time, looking back at each other a second later. "Hmph."

"-Just to clarify, i have no idea what's going on." Kaito murmured from behind Kudo, completely lost since about an hour. Trying to get somebody's attention, he raised his voice a tad and said - "What i do know though is that we are half-way to the city. Since it's dark, don't you think we should stop to sleep somewhere?"

The thief commented, seeing as Agasa listened. The old man nodded, heading off to the nearest turn around the busy sidewalk. Kudo and Hattori stopped arguing after a while, their bantering leaving them just a bit less tense by the time they passed a peculiarly long intersection. Just as it was getting quieter...

"Yeah, so we just figure out who gets what room."

"So the hotel is already chosen? I'm impressed, i really am. You think getting 3 will be ok?"

"Yeah. Now we just divide."

"So, who's sleeping together and all?"

"Yep."

"Are you guys gonna end up like the last time? Should i just go ahead and...- " Agasa asked like a sneak he was from behind the wheel.

"NO WE ARE NOT." Both of the detectives yelled, the back of the car trembling from the noise and the whole front of the car drowning in giggles with Kaito joining with making choking noises.

"What the hell..." Kaito uttered in confusion as the car stopped on the hotel parking, the lanterns brightly shining down on the windows. Haibara just smirked.

They all took it as a sign that they, indeed, will be stopping in this hotel. If it's glowing neon signs welcoming them in weren't enough to prove that, there was also a pretty garden guiding their path with nice decorative plants. As they looked around the busy Japanese road, the parking lot filled with just as many cars as they saw passing by, reminding them that if they succeed, all these people will be safer. There was also a welcoming store near-by, some newsstand and a restaurant, full of people with happy expressions on their faces. So carefree, so careless.

Exiting the car, Shinichi thankfully took his staring down a notch (possibly after seeing how more tense Hattori was because of it), starting walking towards the entrance of the nice small building instead. There were some glowing letters exactly above them at the entrance, saying "タートルシェルホテル" (Turtle Shell Hotel) along some decorations from the latest holiday and some benches with ashtrays near by for people smoking. It looked nice so far, especially when your eyes were blurry with sleepiness.

_...Looks nice enough. Thinking that, i hope my sleep will also be nice..._

The light was coming off from behind the door and from small lamps along the path outside, all of the entrance brightly lit and decorated. There was a lobby by the desk, also with it's receptionist having a fight with keys, apparently tangled in them. Kaito immediately rushed in to help the poor fellow out.

"Man, who would have thought that all these key leashes would fall at me so unexpectedly... Thanks man, it would have taken some time by myself to do all this... " The receptionist said after taking the last key hanging off his neck, correcting his clothes. The man looked down shyly, the situation surely a bit embarrassing for him, a receptionist, to experience.

"Not. A. Problem. Any time." Kaito said, holding a stolen key behind his back for Kudo to see. The detective sent a hard glare towards the thief, immediately sending the other into smiling cheekily and placing the key on the desk, innocently looking away with a whistle.

"We actually would like to borrow a room for a few hours if that's alright? We are only traveling by, you see... Your place looked nice." Agasa said to the man after a second, correcting his glasses as he did.

"Oh. Are you a traveling family?" The receptionist asked, handing Agasa some papers to fill and preparing the keys.

"Uhh, actually, we are investigating a case. Or, will investigate soon, once i put _my detectives_ to rest. And, of course, my..." Agasa said, Ai waving to the man behind the desk slightly.

"Oh, interesting! You like to bring your granddaughter along to help figure out the case?" The man was almost done, assigning them rooms and starting to show the way along the nice corridors.

Continuing to ramble on, the man filled the silence, all five of them following slowly. "...-I heard about this one popular detective guy that always brings his daughter and some kid along to help him find clues... I have been told that the youngsters can perceive a lot more than adults sometimes, so maybe that's why the guy is so good at his job? Although it gotta be rough to see crime scenes all the time in such a young age, no? i also think that...-"

The two talked for a while, the others following behind. Hattori turned to Kaito who was slowly catching up, the notorious thief apparently tired if his closing eyes were anything to go by. The detective almost felt like he had known him already, but again, he didn't really know him much. Actually, he was curious as to how he found out about Shinichi and all, so what better time than now?

He started the conversation by nudging the other on the shoulder, waking him up, smiling. "You looked lost in thought. You...Figured something out?" Heiji said, getting the boy's attention.

"Nah. Just... Appreciating the hotel i guess." Kaito lied, clearly, as the hallways were looking the same since good 5 minutes.

"...Yeah...sure."

"..."

"I remember you from the party."

"Huh?"

"You know, the one in which we both tried to be Kudo to save him from Ran findin' out? Even though he didn't say a word about yo identity, i think we saw each other."

Kaito's face suddenly changed into one of recognition, the latter surely recalling the event. "Yeah! You were totally damasked though. If not for you skin, you guys would be like two water drops too. And you're getting that from a master of disguises, not a light praise. "

"Actually, there was one time i totally pulled it off. I think... it was my destiny. Sooner or later, i would've done it." The proud look on his face made the thief smile, making him think, _...If Shinichi says Hattori is sadder than usual, i wonder just how energetic he normally is. Damn, not often do i meet such people. Kinda reminds me of..._

"...There was always something that i wanted to ask tho'. Why you guys look so similar? Even yo' voices, totally bizarre."

"Well, uh, you see..."

Some guests from the other rooms and the cafeteria walked by, talking loudly, the hotel receptionist finally arriving near their own rooms just as they passed them. Agasa had finally thanked for the service and started handing out keys to the three places available, the tiredness making him repeat picking them up as he missed his hand 2 times. Kudo immediately perked up as he got the key along Kaito, immediately catching onto the ploy.

"Wait, don't tell me you were actually serious in the car." His voice was thick with tiredness, slight bewilderment present underneath. Of course, it would be surprising for him that they somehow sleep in close proximity every day lately, but now he was seriously debating if this was someone else's intention. It was getting ridiculous.

"I'm still making you do it. For scientific reasons." Ai said, clearly and very serious. There was something in her voice which made the two detectives stop objecting, weird barrier making them obey. Kaito just smiled, slowly starting to get used to and enjoy the drama between the two more, Agasa staying silent and yawning, apparently agreeing with Ai judging by his stern expression.

"So we are in one room for scientific reasons?" "...I'm not even gonna question this."

"I would, but i'm too tired. So... 'night?"

"..."

" ...'night then."

* * *

Everyone got to their hotel rooms (Haibara pushing both Heiji and Shinichi into one after they stood motionlessly) while the other guys set their stuff in place and started preparing the beds.

Tomorrow was an important interrogation, with everything already set, but Kudo feared he will have many more things to think about before any of that.

* * *

As they got set and Kaito tried to impress some maids, everybody was ready to catch some sleep. Well... All except the two incredibly awkward detectives, one in pajamas and the other still fully clothed. Shinichi was looking at Hattori expectantly as the other didn't remove his hoodie yet, the light making his tired eyes even more apparent.

"So i'm taking the carpet, ye?" Heiji said as he swiftly stole one pillow from the bed, setting it up on the ground. Shinichi's eyes widened, protesting. "No way! You are still injured, so just take the bed and i will take some blanket." Shinichi took the pillow away. Hattori huffed, irritated. "Stop doing this, alright? I'm fine, so take the bed. No problem."

Kudo stopped Hattori from setting stuff out on the ground, grabbing his injured arm strongly. The other hissed, taking it away at the speed of light, a spark of concern surfacing in Kudo. Stopping himself from apologizing, Shinichi gave him one long knowing look, making the situation even more tense and weird for both of them. He needed to pressure Hattori if he ever wanted to help him, and so he held his stare. Kudo briefly wondered if this was what Haibara wanted.

_...Wait..._

"You wondered why Haibara put us together... so... _I think i know a part of it._" Heiji looked back up as he listened closely, actually interested. He still held his arm to his chest though, protecting it from the other and making himself look smaller. Kudo looked away, continuing.

"Let me redress those bandages." Shinichi stated firmly with no room for argument. Hattori's face showed confusion and deep analyzing of the other's words, the teen clearly not wanting to do such things. He looked conflicted, murmuring, "Ya think i can't do tha' myself?", receiving no answer.

"Why are you so weird lately? Ya actually actin' like..."

After a while of silence, the teen gave up and took off his hoodie. Shinichi quickly got ready to help him with his cuts and bruises once more, satisfied of his victory of bringing even a little bit of the old Hattori back. He felt like this was progress. He felt like tomorrow will be easier if he does this now.

Grabbing some materials from the cabinets in the small bathroom, Kudo looked out the small darkened window, some leaves rustling on the green trees outside. It was really pretty tonight, he noted. Looking away as he came back into the room with bandages, he found himself shifting a gasp seeing how much worse this all have gotten since the last time.

More cuts and blood were visible and present, Heiji's hands now almost totally covered in the gray cloth. His skin was pale, radiating heat from a slightly weakened fever, still clammy and sweaty from the day. Shinichi was momentarily stuck staring for a longer while, never realizing how little progress his previous work achieved, finally shaking himself awake after a bit as he focused on the task at hand. Some of the bruises looked better, yes, but everything else needed attention.

**_...Once again..._**

**_What a burden you are._**

**H̨͚͛͝E͉̦͈̩̯͎͂̈́̀́̀͘ ͉̜̫̋̓͠H̻̬̥͐́̑͜͝Ĕ̘̲͠ H̭̝͉͖̖͓̏͆̒̋̄͗È̞̯̄͐͟ ̢̤͎͔̹̊͗̂̅̔̌͢HË̠ ̖͈͈̗̘̓͆͗͌̐h̜̖̩̜̾̌͑̄͜͡e͙͍͙͖͂̈̇̍ ̟̦́̀h͇͑e̡͎̺̙͊̐̔̽͜͡ ̦͍͕͑̀̚͠ͅh̼̮̙͈́͂͆͘e̗̘̮̒́̈**

"Sit down on the bed." The detective of the East stated, a new plan forming in his head.

* * *

_"Do you think you will get away with this?"_

_"Just shut up and take it already."_

_"What even is this for? Why..."_

_"Don't you think you're asking too many questions?"_

_"You never answered last time."_

_"Just know i'm here every time, and every time i leave when i get what i want"_

_"You will get caught, you know this? They will get you one time, and i will finally be free. From both of you trapping me, i choose the police."_

_"You... Heh, you won't be so brave after THAT-"_

_"W-Wait!"_

* * *

It was uncomfortable, sitting alone in the silence of the late hour. Unknowingly to Shinichi, Hattori was now thinking all kinds of stuff, every thought blaming him for his incompetency. If he only wouldn't be so weak through all of this, the investigation would be long over.

Kudo tried to be gentle, tempted to ask about all these new cuts while also focusing on applying the bandage correctly. Nevertheless Heiji flinched a few times, lessening the covering a bit to correct it and closing his eyes more and more as minutes went by. More incomplete thoughts were now entering his mind, the calmness and safety he didn't feel for a long time making him relaxed.

_... I don't know why, but when we are close the voices get quieter... Maybe the poison they used... and his poison are..._

* * *

"_-Interacting_ with each other. Right? " Ai stated clearly, setting up her own bed and covering it with a green blanket.

"That would... make sense? " Agasa answered, his tea getting cooled in his hand. Through the open window some nice air was entering the room, the drink leaving more steam because of the temperature contrasting. Even though the trees were still having their leaves on the branches, the cooler weather was closing in, slowly making an entrance to the following season. "Yeah...Yeah? Maybe? Hm..." - The old man looked at her in amusement, stating. " So that's why you put them together... The poison you detected is somehow nullified by Shinichi's, therefore we have nothing to worry about as long as they are close-ish? "

" Yeah. My cured poison is somehow making the one Heiji has have weaker effects, although small traces remain. I'm still figuring this out myself."

" How do you even know what to do with this new poison? Were you around when they invented it? "

" No... It's not like that. This scientist, he was working in similar time as when i was ... leaving ... The Organization. There were some ideas going around from him on this poison focusing mostly on pure pain and torture, making a target harm themselves by controlling their nervous system or even thinking. Like a liquid torture, although i don't know how it works. Heiji seems controlled though, so i think he either figured out a stop to all this alone or it simply didn't work because of Kudo. Too bad his 'antidote' doesn't know about all that. "

" so... What was the last piece that made you so sure? "

"Hmm..."

"Yeah?"

" I remember this one rumored feature he talked about ... It seemed like he was trying to implement a special perception altering formula allowing the user to read special codes, often threats, passwords or information - also speeding up the effect. It was interesting, that's why i heard all the gossip from others. Not working on the main formula sure left him a lot of space to play around, doing whatever he wanted and the BO needed, so i wouldn't be surprised if people were just envious. After the coded messages came from this Osakan girl of his, i figured it was probably threats coded specifically for him. Too bad that kind of stuff only angers this boy more, motivating him beyond imagination, just like the situation when his dad totally rejected his investigation. Guy sure is stubborn for a teenager.

Judging by the fact that Hattori submitted a request of holding Kazuha Toyama and Ran Mouri in custody and is **_also_** chasing the very group that threatened her, I like to think that i'm right."

Ai lied down, opening a book at the page she left at. Yawning, she made one final dismissive wave at the professor who's eyebrows were shot up from her explanation, saying offhandedly; "It will all be stable if we keep 'em close - and i will deal with the antidote later. If i mix the poison and antidote, maybe Heiji will be able to stop being glued to Kudou if this gets worse. Ever since Kudo is so focused on him i doubt we will have Hattori damaging himself any further during one of the attacks any time soon, though. There is nothing better than a stone-cold-turned-kindly-warm detective looking after his fragile ass, i assure you.-"

_*Yawn*_

"Now, goodnight."

Agasa just looked out the window, wondering in silence, the moon shining through the clouds.

* * *

Shinichi was willing to take action soon tonight, trying to pressure his friend into answers after he already won once. He had a feeling he was so close to the answer he basically couldn't contain himself before using his tactics more, catching his friend by the shoulders as he finished his work.

Hattori was getting extra sleepy as he finished taking care of his injuries though, nodding off every few times in the time-span of these few minutes. As he was almost sure that his tired friend will fall asleep for good if he leaves him in silence for one more minute, he spoke, sternly.

"How did this happen?"

Heiji looked up slowly, his eyes already glassy and his mind clouded by tiredness. "Wha'...exactly?"

"All these fresh cuts. Your escape. The clue...? "

"Does it matter? It **doesn't.** Just like me...hah." Heiji slurred, his incredibly blurred eyesight worsening at how much more relaxation and relief he was feeling. Spending the whole day in the mess of the voices and recurring pain, now finally in a safe and dark place, feeling _protected_ and _comfortable_ and _held_ was simply...

_amazing_.

Honestly he just wanted to let himself remain in this weird safe zone, taking more time to prepare for what's to come by simply sleeping. Why couldn't his problems disappear as he was sleeping? Why all the dead bodies he finds every time he meets Kudo aren't simply asleep? Why is it always so difficult...

There was some muffled words he heard Shinichi say, none of them making it through to him. He let himself fall onto Kudo's chest, not caring for anything once more. He was beginning to get warm, he noticed - but couldn't determine why. The only thing he felt was being laid down gently, some quilt encompassing him not long after.

...

* * *

Kudo was trying to argue after Heiji was bringing his self-worth down once more. It also suggested that the filter was gone from his words just like the last time, bringing an opportunity to get through to his friend. "No, no way Heiji!"

"You do matter, Hattori. Of course you do! Same as your health! But until you tell me why you keep getting worse, i can't help you, don't you see?" Kudo said, trying to keep Heiji awake to answer at all costs. "As well as you telling me why i'm..."

His friend however just bowed down and landed on his shoulder, falling asleep. _Again._

._..God dammit._

"Hattori..."

He lied his friend down on the bed, getting some quilt to cover him. The bandages were all fresh, making him sleep more soundly, finally releasing him from all the dried blood that he was surrounded by before. Shinichi had a proud expression on his face as he appreciated his nicely done work, even if it was only a _partial_ success, turning off the bright lights in the room. Closing his eyes in the darkness, his hand covered his face, the looping thoughts and memories rewinding in his mind.

His friend seemed to be so stubborn he felt the need to lie to Kudo, which made the other frustrated (and determined) even more. He felt the weird need to protect, the need to understand, the need to help... - _yet he was helpless._

Which, for him, was completely new. Normally it would be weird, or not weird because of Hattori, but now there was an aspect of Hattori **lying** to him just because he didn't want Kudo to..._care?_

He didn't understand what he wanted to do, his emotions and thoughts conflicting with each other. It was the first time he needed to use such delicacy besides around Ran and unstable criminals, needing to balance his trust and methods to not screw up. There _had_ to be a reason, for Hattori's change, the BO, the codes and mysteries left behind. All left for him to solve, just like every other case. He was slowly getting tired of this all, remembering the simpler days, remembering the life he _technically_ could return to. Could._ Won't._

_There is a debt to pay, a person to save, a mystery to solve and a chapter to close._

Laying down and sharing some more quilt, he hugged the other closer, Heiji's slight fever getting cooled down by Shinichi's shirt.

* * *

**Guys did you see the manga like damn**

**Heiji's back**

**Hopefully for longer than one case**

**Yo but it's about these uninteresting things again... dunno if it was good for what it was worthhhhh**


	13. Chapter 13-life-changer

Shinichi was giving up.

Maybe he was just imagining things, overthinking. Everyone was safe, they were about to track the main hideout, police got their backs... Small stress. He liked to tell himself that it didn't deserve more than that.

Yet, he was scared.

He was scared of the people that took away so much from him. He was scared to attack a powerful and old organization that no one had taken down.

He guesses that's why the nightmares were so intense and so vivid when he fell asleep.

* * *

_There was this silence buzzing in his ears as the bullets sounded, a few moments going by in complete stillness. The floor was quickly turning red in color, every killed person hitting the ground with a wet thud. He watched it all, glued to the ground, his short legs trembling like never before._

_The floor under his small shoes collapsed once more, making the detective fall down into darkness, consumed. His eyes clouded, quickly losing light as he fell deeper down. Shinichi was regaining height as he fell faster and faster towards the ground he couldn't see, the nonexistent cold wind going through his hair. Hitting the solid black concrete soundlessly, Kudo stood up slowly, looking at the only lit place down here. There was something purple on the ground, shining in light that came from nowhere._

_Black tall figures were standing all around it, their glowing glass eyes daring Kudo to try to pick it up._

_The teen looked down, not feeling like he was in control of his own body. Kneeling down so he can pick up the object, Shinichi examined it thoughtfully, feeling the familiar cuff piece inside the amulet under his fingers. As the place was getting hotter and hotter, the amulet slipped through his hands, falling towards the ground._

_Shinichi was sent to another place yet again, more black clothed people standing closer around him. He saw them attack someone else too, meaning he wasn't alone. The figures jumped on him as soon as he looked back up, their hands clawing at his clothes, holding his limbs still and hearing Ran's cry in the far distance. The black figures hands went towards his throat, causing him to feel utter and true terror. Desperately trying to get away, the young detective started struggling against the force holding him down, finally feeling himself and being pulled out of their clutches._

* * *

Shinichi woke up with a start, sitting up straight in bed, still coughing and struggling. He was covered in a layer of sweat from his dream, wishing for nothing more than to be dry and calm again as soon as possible. He felt a tissue press down on his forehead, drying his face slightly as he relieved the memories from the dream in his mind. Looking up into the brightened room he spotted the dark-skinned detective's hand holding the tissue, the rest of him sitting next to Kudo, falsely calm.

He caught the last remnants of the fleeting nightmare into his memory, the screams he heard being engraved even more strongly. Maybe it was because of his imagination, Kudo's always more real than he liked.

"Good mornin'. You good?" Hattori asked, not making any eye-contact with his friend yet.

"Yeah. It's-... It's fine."

"You started breathing weird, so... i got... worried? I think you had a nightmare, and so i tried to wake ya up."

He stopped quickly, his expression playful. "Don't be angry tho, it's already 10! Your crazy dreams sure take a lot of time..." Heiji signed, looking away in shyness. "Never told me you had those, eh? I heard tha' it helps once you talk about them... so... uh... would you like to?" Heiji asked, again going back to not looking in Kudo's general direction.

"Uh... It's not really... interesting, i guess?" He tried keeping the sleepiness out of his voice, failing. He didn't really want to talk about it yet either, so...

"I would be glad to hear it anyway if it will make you feel better. Sounded rough, and _trust_ me, i would know." Heiji repeated, now looking at him intensely as Shinichi reached for the tissue he was holding and accidentally touched him.

Kudo frowned a bit, honestly not up to it but still thinking about how to answer. The progress he had with Heiji was very large already, so he needed to play this right. Before he could do anything though, a wave of extreme tiredness swept over him.

"Not gonna lie, the only thing i wanna do is sleep. Maybe if you would carry me to the car i could think about telling."

"Sounds good enough."

* * *

From what Hattori gathered, Shinichi was... _still is_... affecting his poison. Somehow, when they finally reached the car, Hattori managed to even forget about the whole thing. And he was supposed to be dead. **Dying**, right **now**.

If getting away from the car hadn't reminded him, he probably would.

He reached for his phone as he laid Shinichi on the cushions inside the car, his friend looking downright drunk with a rare sleepy expression. He shook his head and got back on task.

The message didn't show, in it's stead a string of numbers and symbols, none making any sense. He squinted as normally he was able to read the thing, worrying slightly as now it couldn't be treated as evidence. Not that it would be, ever.

The feature letting the victims decipher the code after taking the poison so police wouldn't get it, what a surprise. He felt a slight tingle behind his eyes though, his body feeling as if something was under it's surface.

He focused for a second, getting his thoughts together...

Taking enough wary steps back, the message became more clear. His body shook as soon as he left the safe zone, setting a barrier.

...'I guess i won't go far away from ya today. I need to figure out how this all works if i want to do anything.'...

...

"_\- O-r_ you can ask somebody who knows."

* * *

Kazuha sat neatly in the room protected by the Osaka police. It was nice, the dark walls illuminated by bright lights, and that amazingly pretty plant on the table was... uh, really adding some good color... and...

No, it totally wasn't nice.

The doors were made out of metal, locked on 6 locks, god knows how many policemen running behind them in the frenzy that was catching a large group of criminals. She was targeted by a bunch of guys with bombs strapped to their chests, who, apparently, tried to ambush both her and Ran. She wasn't even sure if the cops outside weren't spies, waiting to attack...

So far the only thing she knew for sure was that Heiji gave the order of having her and Ran in protection. And what do you know, all the attackers met in her house was just a bunch of police officers. There was a lot of men injured, enough for this thing to be serious. Hattori gave all information Heizou needed to start this thing, causing the two friends to be interrogated for any details. She sent some messages to him, asking where they're standing, not getting a response so far.

She tried asking her dad to, like, let them go already, as she and Ran was very certain of their own self-defense techniques, only to receive a "worried dad" speech.

Failure.

No matter.

Apparently, Hattori got a threat sent to him. The attackers thought Hattori wouldn't be fast enough to get all the police involved, what a shame... - Osakan police is one of the better ones in Japan lately, after all.

There... may had been the fact that the guys tried to kill themselves after they failed, one bomb per each chest. She does not like to think about that.

Apparently, Ran knew more than she did. Said Kudo was chasing after a case and some words slipped out, returning in this scenario. Kazuha was sure that if she was as close to Kudo as she was, she would have caught more. If Heiji says even one word out of the ordinary, she knows immediately, pushing him until he spills. Ran though seems scared, not only when Kazuha suggest she try this but also when she tries to convince her to ask about it. Was Shinichi some sort of god? Untouchable and fragile and running away from her... Ran didn't seem confident about their relationship at all, too. Kazuha expected her to be more... confident, open, about Kudo.

She remembers that when Hattori walked about him, he seemed so energetic, passionate - so certain, so happy and even into the whole idea of friendship like never before.

That was part of the reason she also misnamed Ran Shinichi, as Hattori's description took her thinking completely different tracks about the detective.

"You know why i thought you were Kudo the first time we met?" - Kazuha asked her friend, the silence making her decide on sharing some stories from before they all met.

* * *

Everything was a bit foggy, but isn't it always when he wakes up?

He heard some voices, smelled the interior of a car, felt a hard cushion under him..._ Wait, were they already going or did someone just stuff him into the car?_

"-o ya thi- -ork? "

"-es. "

"Wo-, i'm su-d, but- i... "

"No worries."

He hoisted himself up, groggily rubbing his eyes. He had a good sleep, not like he had a choice. 8 hours, no less, no matter the circumstance, although he wished he didn't need as much. ._..And no coffee? No way i'm getting up..._

"Damnnnn..." He stretched, almost making a hole in the ceiling with his fingertips. Oh, wait. Heiji got him here, how could he forget. _Now_ though, it seemed like he was talking with someone.

Heiji got into the car seat next to him not long after they quieted, giving a very specific glance in his direction, Haibara getting in after.

"All on the back seats? You finally got how much cooler it is?" Kudo asked Ai in surprise. "So you wouldn't mind if i sat on the front...yes?" He smiled, ignoring the two making an eye roll.

_...Finally, my revenge..._

"I hope through all your victory you won't forget your promise."

"Yeah yeah later."

Kaito and the professor were coming quickly, the old man nodding playfully at Shinichi sitting next to him in the front. Seemed he didn't mind, meanwhile Shinichi minded _a lot_. Some balance, that's what this ride needed. Was it 2 hours to destination or 20 minutes, _there gotta be some of that shotgun goodness._

When he was getting ready for the oncoming challenge of deducting the BO location, also being overly happy about his front seat glory, everyone got ready to go.

"You okay?" Ai asked in a hushed voice, receiving a nod.

Kaito shot the two a questioning look, some words already on his lips. Hattori's signals silenced him though, the message getting across. They were about 10 minutes away, so who really needs that conversation. The thief shrugged, quick to turn towards the front to banter with Kudo as much as he could.

* * *

**Who cares i have it all planned, i'm probably not gonna continue. Never had the talent to write, so what's the point. There is so much better pain and angst everywhere, so much better mangas than detective Conan, so much better cartoons and animations than the anime and a lot of amazing writers. Why would someone bother?**


	14. Chapter 14-No, it failed

_**Selfish but imma try to fix it**_

* * *

The house was just over the street, a bridge hanging on the path towards it. The small river underneath was cold but fast, the water clear enough to see the first rocks. On days like these, walk in the sun would grant just enough heat to ignore to cold, but what can fish say about that? They are forever cold, forever protected by the cold waves, forever safe. The overall flora around the house was nicely kept, same with the neighborhood, the trees small and bushes cut. All around the house, there was garden, blooming beautifully in it's last moments of morning. Not that Shinichi was a novice to flower types or something, but he asked Ai-chan about the name of some of the beautiful flowers to perhaps give to Ran later. No real reason, since it wasn't a _romantic_ thing anyway - it was just that making his friend happy was one of his favorite things to do, especially when they did not see each other in proper ages for some time. She saw so much murder and dead people in her life, the only flowers she knows shouldn't only be the ones on graveyards.

_About that romantic thing, though..._

_He talked to her over the phone yesterday, and, apparently, she... got someone else now. It could never change the fact that Shinichi loves her, of course, and if something would fail he would be there for her, but to be honest now that he thought about it... wow, he misses 3 days of being around her as Conan and she already has...-!_

_Back to topic._

Of course a lady selling drugs would somehow get the money for all that pretty plants. - even if the police got her under observation now, they would not straight up sell some vases with a few greens inside just because of that. Nevertheless, an approving whistle can be heard out of Kaito as he looks over the flowers. The group stepped out of the car as soon as it stopped, the neat path to the house not having even a crack in the bricks. How nice.

"well, this looks well kept. I hope our information source is home and not _buying some more lawnmowers_ just because the previous one cut a half of an inch too high." Kaito steeped towards the door, looking over the windows if the woman was inside. It was pretty dark, so he could not tell. Hattori tensed, ready for hostility, for answering questions to the current observing personnel, even for a black organization member inside. All that was coming, however, was stillness.

_*Knock*_

"..."

"Maybe she didn't hear?"

_*Knock* *Knock*_

"Let's just...Wait a sec?"

"Seems like it won't work. She would have heard. Now, let's just..."

_...Aaaaaand Kaito lockpicked the door._ Amazing. Heiji would have reminded him that it's technically breaking and entering and it's illegal and all, but currently his thoughts were occupied. _Does_ the vial work, _where_ the woman could be, _how_ is the case going back at the precinct, why is no one around,_ this_ and _that_ \- Oh look, they are inside already!

Ever since he got tortured, both with self-torture toxin and BO members torture, his attention span got shorter and shorter. Being hot-headed and tense was his thing though, so no one noticed his evolving paranoia. He hoped it would get better with time, as for now he was stuck here to both continue the case and keep an eye out on Kudo - since the bastards could be anywhere and he knew it well.

He felt an arm on his shoulder, barely fighting the instinct to flinch. It was Kudo, he knew, as the only person who was behind him on the right was the young detective. He turned lightly, picking up on Shinichi trying to get his attention in checking the surroundings.

"Does this seem off to any of you?" Kudo asked, getting in his detective mode, his eyes focused on scanning the terrain. Hattori knew he was asking the group, but he felt that in reality he was just silently portraying his fear into him to help them both deal with the possibility they started to expect long time ago.

"**There!** look, that's...-!" They followed, not paying much attention to the darkness in the house or decor but all the blood on the floor, a clear trial of dragging.

"Here we go again..."

"...Please don't tell me she's..." there was just enough light to tell. Their lead, as some would expect from the criminals already, was taken care of - _by that we mean dead. Just... _**Dead**. They all came here to find their only trial _dead_. All this work, just for this one clue, and she was just there, eyes open and mouth full of blood, staring at them and their** failure.** Who even cares that it was predictable, it was his only chance... _wasted!_

"Ugh, i can't even look at this. You detectives do the job, i'm just calling the cops. Fucking unbelievable that a person that was supposed to be observed is laying dead, undiscovered by what looks like to be 6 hours." His disappointment was audible, in contrast to everyone else still processing the event and how to bottle the anger inside. Then, as most of the times before, Hattori broke the tension;

"'Yo sure a thief should call the cops? Not scared at all?" Heiji turned on his heel, honestly just done with this all. _Damn, even Kudo couldn't catch these guys in such a long time, what was he even thinking?..._ Police his ass. Oh, wait, are there going to be multiple bodies or just one? He still always liked a good mystery on his good days, but being unsure about ...anything... canceled that possibility out.

"_Point,_ but i'm the only disguise master around that fooled them 10000 times already." He smiled with triumph, but quickly remembered that it wasn't a good time for that. He followed his retort with "Professor, i don't think that's good for your health either to look at such things...Is outside better?"

"Well... I would watch out, there can be more bodies 'round. These people... These _bastards_, they had a few policemen on observation duty to get rid of too. I...I'm sorry." Kaito felt a grimace lightly show on his face, but when a sad sigh followed, it left a slightly raised level of depression around the room. _...Really, how much more grim could it be when there already was a dead body in the room?!_

"Poor woman. Everybody chained to the organization ends up like this, every time, and even if she did some wrong, it still just makes me so...!..so..." Ai couldn't finish. Her mood was just fine this morning, and here she ended up, ready to vomit at the sight of the bloody body. ..._She really did get softer, didn't she? - _Kudo thought passively. He also felt bad, but he can't change anything about it all now, so he _tried hard_ to convert this feeling into determination instead of fear of how close they were to ending up like her.

**Yeah, trying being the keyword.**

* * *

"Man, this is just tha' worst..."

"Well, i'm used to it so no problem. They got away with bigger things. This here is a classic, **trust** me. There probably won't be much clues, either... Hah." The answer came immediately, without emotion from his mouth. Heiji almost shuddered at the coldness of the statement, the sheer lack of Kudo's usual slyness or even hope present.

..._Was this really how Kudo thought every time he tried to follow their bloody trial?... _"Kudo..."

This really was a wide problem, BO being a wide organization, but it wasn't looking like an impossible to solve crime. His kidnappers were green leaves, or at least he hoped so, so maybe the same inexperienced guys would give them an opening? A clue? They have an entire police database at their disposal now, there has to be something!- Haibara just nodded in agreement to Kudo, also indifferent and prepared for his reply. Heiji cursed quietly, his hands clenching into fists. After a while he just took out his phone, texting out some things towards his dad, still with a scowl on his face. His hope was still strong, the only thing left to do being to deal with this murder and get as much as he can while he still has his hands free ; he still had a bit of hopelessness lurking within and yelling retreat at his thoughts.

He took a closer look, his east counterpart already squatting near the victim and taking samples. Of course he would, he is respected enough to have permission now - Hattori envied that quite a bit. As he also began to search for the cause of death, he noticed many repulsive bruises and marks on the victim, looking like quite a bit of blows must have been dealt. Slight foam at mouth, not to mention the blood not being all dried, cuts, bruises, stiff body, (Kaito's theory with 6 hours about right) A white n' thin... _wire? _\- going through the victims wrist... _what the actual...?_

There were also some marks all over the wall now that he looked closer at it. "Was this tied there?" He thought aloud.

Not even a second after he figured it out, Shinichi simultaneously exclaimed 'yup, i got it figured out', making his count of victories one up Hattori again. Maybe he was the only one counting, _but well, it mattered_, alright? - The thing is, the circumstances of the death didn't just stop the detective from further thinking this time - he just started to wonder if most effective venoms were doing their job this morbidly, would his curse do the same? Would he be laying just like that, lifeless, if not for Shinichi repelling his death away? He spared him a look, continuing to wonder.

* * *

"...Ran, i think i we should go there."

"Huh? Where do you mean?" Ran asked Kazuha, both walking along the hallways of the precinct. She looked back at the sweet girl, obviously having a plan on how to get her to go. "There was just a call that Shinichi Kudo and Hattori Heiji are at the scene of the crime in a faraway town. Well, not so far if you ride in police cars..." She didn't have the time to continue as Ran popped up. "Kazuha-chan! Don't just joke like that, tell me what happened quick!" At the shine in Ran's eyes Kazuha knew she hit a bulls-eye, already half done convincing the schoolgirl.

"My dad and Heiji's dad know each otha', and they will be leaving after the main squad comes to secure tha' place. It's a bigger deal, a long and complicated case, they said. My request to travel there with them would most likely be accepted, since, ya' know, we are both technically involved." Kazuha's plan to meet Heiji and set things right wasn't forgotten by her for even a second, the opportunity that arose being the perfect one. She will just ask about the case, details and stuff...and then she will apologize. She can't just leave things like that!

_...My last message from Hattori shouldn't be a meek answer to some code, containing just "some jumbled letters, glitched message", just as well as their last conversation being awkward. Especially since now she has proof..._

She held Ran's hand in hers, smiling.

"...And since i know how you would love a reunion with Kudou-kun, i say i go there to kick his butt for ignoring you too."

"Kazuha-channnnn-"

They went ahead, the police car starting an exceptionally fast ride with it's siren blaring perfectly to the rhythm of policemen hearts.

* * *

Even more of the body was seen as Haibara, the only person in the room who thought about it, turned on the lights on 100%. This old case in a dark candle-lit mansion really did a number on their eyes, since even without that both detectives were sure all the things to be found were already discovered.

"**God** damn **it!**"-Ai exclaimed, for once actually under pressure from both other people and from her own revenge. She was tired of all this death, all this torture, of these guys doing all they want! She already knew what exactly caused this death, but god was she angry.

She knew also that the vial she gave Heiji wasn't going to work forever, and that Kudo trapped in his younger body needed to be atoned for. Even so, the karma was never getting these guys, the people in question slipping right through their fingers. **Every. Damn. Time.**

**This day she had hope, but it did not work anyway.**

"You recognize something, Haibara-chan?" Hattori asked, getting up and examining the nearby walls once again. Seems like the victim was tugged through the floor while bleeding, then tied to the walls - although the white wire was probably tugged only as she fell down, perhaps closing the door for another one of "closed room" mysteries that the police took 2 hours to figure out nowadays. Although the murder weapon was hard to recognize, as the body didn't have any concrete marks on it, it may take them more to start guessing if it was a chemical murder.

"I'm pissed because it's poison. **Again.**" Ai _started, scoffed, waited,_ and... "You know what, i will join the professor and the cosplayer outside. I need some good conversation and this isn't gonna work."

_sigh._

* * *

_Noon, Victim's house_

Kudo was, to put it simply, losing hope. More people approached the house, the police already looking in their general direction now, a few murder-related professions standing by the door. His thoughts were pretty much _-We won't get any info out now, will we?-_ but also going in the direction that _-maybe there are clues as to their location somewhere he didn't look?-_ dimmed by _-if she was killed because they knew she wouldn't stay silent, surely they would take everything suggesting such things away. We are back to base one.-_

He looked at the once determined faces of the people hurt by the same cause. The cause that there was a hope of abolishing. Until now.

**Welp**. Gotta figure out a new plan.

As everybody met near the car, Kaito being a bit behind, he didn't even have the time to think about what to say to the police about this stuff, or how to respond if someone recognized him before being snatched away to the side by a pair of kendo-trained hands.

"Oi, what's tha plan? If ther' even is any." Heiji stood, watching expectantly with his arms crossed. Kudo caught on, replying smoothly. "Oh, the great detective of the West can't figure it out? Was i correct?"

He smirked, feeling momentarily better by still noting all respect the other people have for him. The other huffed just like he expected, reminded of the cases the Osakan was one step behind on. There was a smallest of smiles on his lips for a second, though, so, a **Win.**

"Nah, it's not that. I figured it out, i just doubt there are clues, and ever since yah' got blocked by them more times i thought i should ask first."

Kudo... Kudo honestly wasn't so sure in this one. They managed to slip away, one person killed, and the difference of having Hattori and Kaito Kid didn't do much currently. _Was it even worth it to partner up with them?_ _No, i can't think like that... Not now of all times, when we hit a dead end. Just gotta figure things out_ \- Shinichi took a breath, now seriously contemplating the next step. "i...Well, we can still look for _clues_? _You_ can-"

"Watch out."

"What?"

"**Watch. Ou-**"

Out of nowhere and with a strong impact, _a full-on-running Ran-niichan crashed into Kudo's back with a sickening **CRACK.**_

"MY GOD RAN, LET ME GO!" Kudo struggled against her hold, to no avail. The girl was glued to him, her arms locked tighter than ever. Ran was saying something against his back, a smile on her face to be sure, Kudo getting her arms a bit up so he can actually hear. "Told ya." Hattori snickered from behind, watching Shinichi struggle against an unstoppable force.

"Shinichi! You're finally back!" She was looking like a lighted up Christmas tree, her bright smile and happy eyes all but eating her best friend with joy. "I h-had a feeling you would be here! I _m-missed you_ so much, why didn't you phone me that you are here so we can meet up?!" And there she goes, angry mode activated. Hattori's snickering subdued, now looking away from the pair of teenagers towards the other guest he wished he would have 'watched out' for. Kazuha was a few meters behind Ran, apparently mid-word when she had ran off. Her face was already turning towards him, _judgmental_ and _ready_ and just _so, so-..._

Hattori seriously didn't want to deal with **this**, especially since he had more important things to do.

In hopes of escape he sneakily did a 'run for yo life' maneuver, throwing his comrade one longing look from the inside of his safe zone, the murder scene.

* * *

"Heiji, wait just a second." Hattori Heizo was calling out to the teen, the police car he was just in turning off it's sirens. He didn't look happy, and certainly not up for a cheerful conversation. Surprising how he was so fast in getting here, Osaka was so far away he must have been here for business beforehand or something...

People were walking all over the crime scene, taking samples, analyzing blood, checking the documents - Normal stuff, verifying with the chief from time to time. _Couldn't his dad just focus on his subordinates instead of him? _Heiji quietly lamented in his fuzzy thoughts, his mind wanting nothing more than to just sit somewhere and think about the case ; the other thing though, Heiji didn't want to talk. All this is probably gonna come back to him making a mess on the crime scenes and perhaps a reprymend for his inability to prevent this stuff. He thought he had this-

"You look like a disaster! Yo' mother was worried sick since tha' attack you informed us about on Kazuha..." His normally stoic attitude shifted, like a slap to the cheek Heiji took a step back. "Wh..Wha? Yo..." But the father continued, coming closer and setting himself on a chair belonging to the victim near. "You probably blame yourself, and Kazuha? If she got hurt the last thing you would have said to her would be an argument! Make peace with her, leave the scene to me." His voice was absolute, stern, testing Heiji and just so full of weirdness it was painful to hear. It wouldn't be the first time Hattori Heizou started talking in a manner thet made you not have any idea about it's meaning; was it sarcasm, a joke, maybe even loathing?

"Dad, it's not tha' bad-"

"Come. You will feel better." Heiji's plan was in shreds, the only thing other than himself to point out his failure getting closer. He braced-

_braced-_

His legs kept him in place, the wood making moving Haizou's son quite difficult. "Hattori, why are ya' being so stubborn today?" The rather comically looking scene earned the chief of police a few tilted stares, the rather childish behavior of a young detective gluing their sights on how the action could develop.

Unexpectedly, there was a sound of the front door opening, a brown haired girl walking through it.

"Heiji!" Kazuha threw himself at him, squeezing hard enough to make his bruises burn like hellfire. _Shit, please just get off!_ \- But with Heizou watching, he just croaked out a low... **"Uh...Hi, Kazuha? Jus' doin' my job, yet you.. uh... hug me?"** He petted the girl awkwardly, her hugging not stopping. She noted that tension, remembering that her friend was still sour. "Heiji! I wanted..-! I wanted to apolog-!" Kazuha was cut off from finishing however as Hattori scowled at Heiji dangerously.

"Don't be so harsh, son. I wouldn't want you to screw up other things as well as this case."

_Ouch_, he should have prepared for that one... it was like that every time lately, him unprepared, that is. The thought lingered in his mind, his hand unconsciously gripping a piece of glass in his pocket.

Chest stiff he put Kazuha away, making note to be cold, he turned to his father. He needed to explain everything, save his father some work, fix his mistakes... His time wasn't limited anymore as he had an anti-vial in his pocket to fend off his symptoms, so whatever.

"I won't screw anything up anymore. Kazuha-chan, we can talk later." He brushed her off, her hands now gripping empty air. She was confused for a solid 5 seconds ; more about if Heiji was warming up to her or the opposite really. "Heiji..?"

"**Later,** Kazuha."

The old man's eyebrows shook for a second, but he nodded and assisted Kazuha away to talk in private. Seems like his plan to cheer his son failed, and now he was discovering his worsened state wasn't caused by an argument... he himself wasn't a detective, but in that moment he wished he was. _Just what was up with all this?_ Quickly passing, the thought echoed. He would need his wife on this one. Such a complicated kid, but it feels just like ...

Before chief could say anything, Heiji was in the middle of doing everything to avoid his childhood friend's eyes. Kazuha herself shook, bewildered and scared she messed up once more. _She just wanted to set things right again! Why wasn't it working?_ She thought... "But Heiji!? I wanted to say sorry! I really want-"

"It's not a problem. Now go, some other time we will speak."

"But..." The girl looked down, saddened, turning away, understanding it wasn't the time. She was still determined, the hug feeling fresh on her skin and mind, even if dimmed by a slight denial. Even if not now, she will fix this. She felt as if now just wasn't the right moment, so she shall look for another.

she could never give up on such a thing.

...

"Hello, Chief Hattori!" Suddenly, a small Haibara stepped in, tugging on the officer's pant leg. Her smile was innocent, the facade of a child softening her speech. "We were investigating for good 3 days with professor - Shinichi and Heiji-niisan! We found so much normally all officers are very happy, why are you not happy?" Ai's attempt was sweet, but Heiji just dismissed her. "That's nice Haibara-chan, but it would never be enough. For a trial such as this, you need to find a continuation above all else..." His voice faltered near the end there, Haibara noticed.

Side eyeing the older male, Ai just innocently huffed out air, accepting Hattori's explanation. "That's very sad, Heiji-niisan..."

"Hattori. The case. I need the report, and for that i will take you to the precinct. Or, if you prefer, i can get a real detective, this Kudo guy- to do it for you?" Judging stare, impassive, _again_.- Sharp glare from Haibara, ignored, _again_. "No, it's completely alright." Hattori grinded his teeth feeling an unknown emotion, a habit he didn't do very often.

Haibara spent only less than a minute rethinking her life priorities and choices. Nothing new to say, really.


	15. Chapter 15 - That's new

**Fixing errors, lots of them.**

**The biggest one is still the plot**

**might as well throw that out the window since all honestly i want is**

**.**

**Ḧ̶̠̟̙́͑̊̑͋͆̕i̶̡̩̰̩̬̺͉̰̫͖̞̽̇ş̴̞͚̞̫̰̰͓͒̍̉̑̇͋͜ ̸̡̛̼̪̬̝̟̬̄̏͒͛̃͝p̸̳͖̪̺͖͇̪̞̰̣͋́̋͊͌͊̉̉̒̍̕͝ͅͅa̸̦̕i̸̧͓̜͗́́̊̒̈n̸̬͎̝͉̱̺͔͚̺̰̼̣̳̭̑͐̑̂̈̓̒̌̋̕͜ ̸̡̧̫̠̻͓̜͔̙̾͋͆̊̑̽̐̐̐̚͝͝ą̴̡̛̭̽͒̈́̂̽͂̀̀̎̔̌̈͝n̷͔̯̐͗̇͒d̵͈͎̅͆͆̀͗̈́̃́͑̀̄̌́̕͝ ̸̨̡̧̯̰͇͖̦̖̝̪͈͙͉̉͂̚͜s̶̨̝̆̌u̵̯̮̙̮̬̰̐̃́̐͂̉f̵̧̛̑͑̂̃͂̐̚f̷̢̹̱̟̼̰̦̱́̇̾͌̉̋̍͜é̴̮̯͓̼̩̓̽͛͒̎̐̈́̍̕̚r̴̡̢̢̢̡̧̦͎͓̪͔̳̲͍̈́̄̔į̴̀͂̅̄̓̅̇͐̑̈́͆̃̑͊̈͜n̷͔͉̦͇͖̟̬̗̹̟͉͓͚͉̿̀̒̑̀́́͆g̵͎̹̟̰̗̭̠̔̓̔͠ ̶̻̱͎̘̯͇͋̿́̈́͜͝**

**.**

* * *

"Shinichi, i'm so glad you came back! We have to catch up, if you won't have any more cases, that is. I found some great restaurants with Kazucha-chan, and she was sure you would like to go there with me! There is also a very nice place to play soccer at, so we can invite some people and...and...!"

"Ran, Ran, slow down! We just solved a murder, give me a break!" He laughed, also happy to see his old friend. Now that he was back, there was no reason to stop himself, no reason to hide and run away. No reason to hold his feelings in secret, no reason to stop healing his relationship with Ran (although there was plenty of reasons why he should also still hide and be careful), and yet... every time he thought about being himself again, he couldn't help but see Hattori, handing him the vial with the antitoxin, his shaking hands treating it like the most precious thing. He couldn't stop this thought, the simple truth that it's all because of that, and that he himself didn't do enough. A few months ago he wouldn't have believed that he can be free, that his best friend would do such a kind act towards him... just like he wouldn't believe just how stubborn and hurt Hattori really was all this time. He couldn't really explain it well with words but there was this thought lingering in his head for some time.

_He felt as if his friend was strong, but more fragile than he thought._

Even if this all will be over when they bring the BO down, forever, it won't change the fact that it's thanks to his friend... that he was something worth saving enough to risk life of others, himself included.

Ran obviously noticed his unfocused state, as the edges of her smile grew strained as well as eyes going calmer. She knew him for a long time, and he knew her, too. She started, letting go of his torso and holding his hand instead: "Let's start off slow. Something simple, like a visit to the caffe close by. I never was in this part of town, so let's try this out with a few of my..._ our_ friends? I need to get you caught up, since i don't know when i will get another _chance,_ knowing you." She winked, then smiled gently and warmly. "Let's go, you already wrapped this up, right?"

Shinichi wondered for a second. - _I deserve a break, what's gonna happen if i go relax?_

"Yeah, of course i did. Let me just part with my companions and then i'm out."

"Great. And, Kudo?"

"Hm?"

"Welcome back."

* * *

_The edge of the forest, sunset_

The day was calm and nice. The trees were rustling from time to time, but the clouds provided the perfect darkness for a walk. Not even birds were going above the loudness that was no longer pleasant, as did the squirrels and people around the caffe. That's enough reason to enjoy this time to it's fullest, to laugh along people you know and want to talk with, and here Kudo was, missing something... some_one_ all this evening. The depressing sight of Kazuha in front of him also didn't help, as pressure of the professor and Ai's fear of being followed by the BO. The clueless people were the only ones happy really, making Shinichi miserable by not being able to join. He thought he wanted this, that he can relax, but _nope_. Destiny didn't plan things to go that way with his socially awkward head functioning at half the capacity it normally does. _He thought he was ready, dammit._

He understood fully that it may take time for him to get used to this after such a long pause, but he lived with Ran for so long it didn't pose a question that he would be less reserved** than this**. They even talked briefly about Conan for god's sake! Still stressed and tired afterwards!

What was happening? _Is this ominous feeling not gonna let up as long as he is out in the open for the organization to get before he gets them? Is that it? It felt just like before all this started, before a crying girl visited his home, a feeling..._

Ran looked happy, though. She has been trying to cheer up Kazuha-chan for some time after the talk became less involving, holding her shoulders, leaning on her and talking about nice things. From what Shinichi's mind is imagining right now, everybody needs a Ran from time to time. He would love some cheering right about now - yet he can only count on himself...

Ai touched his shoulder, providing unexpected reassurance. "Stop that, Shinichi. Just relax, it's alright, we will get back on track in no time. See how Ran is looking at you? Look happy, at least for her happiness." Ai and Ran weren't close, but both girls didn't have anything against each other. Kudo knew what the former OB doctor was more saying it for him, also all being true.

Especially as in that exact moment Ran decided to lean on him just like she did on Kazuha, the latter joining her on his other shoulder, smiling and talking and acting as if nothing was on her mind. Unknown to him, she probably was tense in case she does something wrong to cause Shinichi to disappear again, which wouldn't be so nice. "... You... are going to stay in Tokyo, aren't you?" The fated question elevated the interest of others to a 100, the tension cracking in the air. She knew. He knew. Everybody knew, and everybody waited.

"I..."

"Shinichi."

"As soon as i can, i will stay for good. I promise."

The smile he got back was brighter than anything he saw in his life. This... now, _he can do this._

* * *

_Woods, evening, the roof of an abandoned factory_

"I cannot believe this guy!" Kaito switched his clothes, struggling to put on his new mask as he failed to notice his monocle was still on his real face. "The final clue in the house, the venom used to kill the victim having hand-made substance from this region, and he goes for a coffee? Hanging out? What happened to being the ever-persistent-little-shi-" And he finally put his mask on. _How convenient_

It even made a slight 'pop' as it slid on his face!

"He probably didn't even read the report, too occupied with his ex-girlfriend dancing around him and his partner going back to precinct to set the case files straight..." Murmuring to himself, cloaked by the darkness of the night, the thief slid down his rope onto the first floor, cautious as ever to not bump into any Black Organization members. This was a way too big base for some incompetent people, that's for sure. He was more and more going with the theory that the organization slipped up instead of it all being a big scheme, despite not being completely sure yet.

He got this job in his pocket, no prob. Even if this is a bit different than his usual stunts...

"At least i knew the best time to act. It's almost a sixth sense now, with all these robberies and preparations. As long as there is a plan, a time, some laughs to chill, i am the master at the perfect timing!" He quieted down now, his shoes making a soft 'thump' on the metal bridge above some side factory making line. It was a big base indeed, he wouldn't have thought that under such calm sky, in such a building, at such time, there was people working on the darkest crimes at peace in their sweet control room.

His stress slightly arose only when Kaito suddenly realized...-

-That through the opened door to the room in front of him he could see black cloaked bodies on the floor, one very persistent hatted detective stealing all documents he could find from the biggest computer in the place.

* * *

He didn't have much time to react really. One second you see your most recent ally, the second second you hear a gun clink behind you, and as the shot rings, so does the third second. Everything froze for a moment, the silence swallowing his head and thoughts just enough that he didn't hear himself slide down the closed door, the obvious red stain following. He saw the Osakan turn around, his mouth set in a gasp, his figure running towards Kaito at surprising speed.

He snapped back to attention as Hattori shook him by the shoulders, simultaneously dragging him towards a wall instead of thin door that more bullets could pass through. He looked panicked, but Kaito couldn't help but not care as his side was hurting bad enough he wanted to _puke his innards out._

"You...What are you doing here?!" Heiji prepared a gun by his side, peeking through the door carefully and attempting to shoot Kid's attacker. "Know wha'? Don't answer. I'm getting you out of here first-"

_**-And**_ the tranquilizer dart hit the black cloaked member. Heiji looked back at Kid's bleeding form, the latter holding his abdomen with his left hand, his disguise black cloak seemingly only wet, and yet the case was much more serious. Man. He hesitated to leave his injured friend, but left before he felt too guilty.

Dragging the unconscious Organization Black member into the room, he looked around and heard if anymore people will be coming to them. Thankfully, the abandoned factory didn't make sound travel too well, so Heiji stayed on guard only half as attentive as he was sure there was more people in the base. _'Yo' never know.'_

He ran back towards Kaito, taking in his condition. It wasn't looking good... but not so bad either. He dealt with worse, hence his certainty Kaito would pull through. He knew the pain however wouldn't let up for a good chunk of time, so he tried his best to not touch until the right moment arises.

"Oi, can yo' hear me?" The boy had his eyes squeezed in a pained grimace, so obviously Hattori was worried he may pass out on him. _How did he even get here? He must have figured it out, just like i did... - _a thought hit him. Did this thief read his reports? The classified ones? _What a find._

"Yeah...Would be e-easier to-ghh-!" _No loud talking today, who was he kidding._

"It's better if you don't speak, save yo' energy." He grimaced just looking at the stain, trying his best to hide his growing concern. Maybe a bit of fear.

The tiny bit that's actually a **LOT.**

"God, i hope it didn't get through anything important... **Damn it.**" Heiji's guilt overwhelmed him, his hold on the thief's side slightly getting shakier. He swallowed back his words though as Kaito looked at him with determination, slowly straightening.

"W-What were you even doing here?" Kaito was halted in his attempt to stand up by Heiji putting him down on the ground, his jacket mysteriously already folded under his head for comfort. His rescuer's sleeve was ripped off too, already painfully wrapped around Kid's side, not even a minute after he blinked. His vision was getting a bit blurry from the pain, but he was sure he didn't pass out even once yet... _right?_

"Whtat'cha mean? Ah, _whatever,_ maybe yo' need a good distraction - as do i, hones-**nevermind!** "

_nice. _

_save_.

\- " The situation is delicate. I have no idea how you got it, but it was obvious by the source of the substance the woman was poisoned with, created around here. It wa' similar to my own venom, and this base n' hideout may have some info on another ones, so i- _i came here for info, for a search._ Hey! Stay conscious, Ahou! We can't stay too long, these guys gotta think they weren't found yet. "

"So...you called the police i presume?"

"'Course i did. Sent them the locations of few other places too, but they gotta catch them all at once, at most 3 days needed for tha', else they will slip through or just commit suicide one by one. The big fish hunt has to be sneaky, i suppose." Shifting Kaito's position, Heiji tried his best to ignore the thief's pained groans and tears. He couldn't stop himself from squeaking a low "sorry, i'm so sorry!" every now and then no matter how hard he tried.

"Just hold on until then, i will get you immediate help as soon as i can. Also can't have you die before tha', so **please just...**"

"Nah. I survived worse as well."

" ? "

"Oh don't make such a face, you could say the same! No worries."

"If ya' say so... I just don't like, well, seeing my friends like this... I'm trying not to think about it, yet it is kinda hard with all that blood...gonna haunt me for weeks..."

"Just...try."

...

"When they get here...who will you introduce yo'self as?"

"Kuroba. I was here on a...walk?"

"Funny, Kid. _Very._"

They stayed in the room, the computers Hattori was pulling info from buzzing and humming in the silent night. All the people Hattori found while clearing this area were on the ground with darts at their throats, the boy probably calculating that he cannot risk alarming people too early. Kaito noted with surprise that his bleeding was letting up, which meant the tight makeshift bandage was working and his pain caused enough shock he thought it worse beforehand. The thief himself was feeling up to sitting against a wall now, Hattori helping as much as he could, his face stern and focused as he did so. Kid would laugh if he was capable to, the face of the teenager way too serious to mach any of Kudo's stories at the moment. That reminded him that this one jig must have taken the inexperienced police-boy a lot of courage to pull, so he started throwing wits out of boredom.

"Man, you did well for your first break in. Kudo will be surprised! So many guys out like light, nobody hurt 'n all." To relax the atmosphere (and to get Hattori from clutching the gun tight in his hand from all this tension and stress) Kaito petted the dark-skinned boy on the shoulder briefly. As the male looked at him in confusion, he continued, _slowly_ \- in case it would make his wound worse. "I can kind of s-see why he treasures you as a friend. You are the golden hearted-sacrificing type. Such a good helper, hard to come by, lucky bastard even found a detective that is useful at the same time! Though... " Heiji just continuously stared, kind of confused in all this mess but listening nevertheless - which Kaito picked up on.

"The way he describes you in his stories is... kind of not what i expected. _Heh_." Kid let the silence fall, again making Hattori uneasy about his consciousness. Shaking his head, he nodded, not really into the gossip and more into the state of the other. Surprisingly, he relaxed a bit at the sudden appreciation.

**-and then**...

"What did you mean by 'info' and 'your own venom' by the way? Just wondering."

**-The realization hit him like a ton of bricks.**

Oh. _Oh no_\- Did... Did he spill while he was panic talking to keep this guy awake? _**Crap-crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap-**_

"By the reaction i guess you have something more important going on, am i wrong?"

_**Fudgeee**_

* * *

"You really are one of a kind, you know?"

"Well, yes, i think it would be beneficial to all of us honestly. I would not risk the greater good for you, after all."

"The only thing now is fuel. We got almost all of them, the fbi's documents burning along their holders. It's just these two left."

"It's always better to be cautious, so just in case, we will send the last good squad to other locations."

"...That may be too much, split them in half."

"Alright then."

* * *

_Park Soccer field, sunset_

"_Op_, i... wait a second with that! You know i can't catch that ball if you use your fighting skills to kick it so hard! You want to kill me, Ran?!" Kudo just nearly dodged a deadly projectile of an incoming soccer ball, Ai and professor actually tensing just by watching. _This guy._..has the weirdest choice in friends ever.

He at least is a bit more relaxed now about sudden death by BO, which was better.

"Oh, seems like your skills have fallen, great detective Kudou-kun! You wouldn't win against me even if your life depended on it!"

"Oh come on, it's just late. If it was by the day, i would totally-" Shinichi tried to come up with excuses, deemed to fail less than a millisecond later.

His self-motivating speech stopped as a very normal paced ball got through him anyway, landing right in the middle of the goal.

"Yeah. You will have to train some more with me, it seems." Ran was just swimming in opportunities tonight. The nice go-out to the cafeteria, ice cream, soccer game in the evening..._ she really didn't want this all to end!_

Kazuha-chan was right! _If she just went for it, maybe it can keep him here for longer, once more. Even her other friends cheered for her as they all parted, some even thanking her for bringing Kudo back._ And just as she was about to set up another meeting and invite him over...

More than five police-cars, some big and cargo intended and some just simply loud, blared their sirens loud as hell passing by.

"-What's all the commotion?" Ran turned to Shinichi, her childhood friend looking after the cars as well as her, his brows only a little more furrowed in concern than confusion than her.

"I...I don't know-"

He toned out the sirens, his attention turning to quiet whispering of Ai and Agasa behind him.

"Professor, i think this is earlier than planned. You think he-" Ai talked just a tad too loud in this moment.

"Ai? Professor? You two know something i don't?" Shinichi walked towards the two, obviously judging the way they were staring at each other. He was almost sure his predictions were right.

"..."

"..."

"..."

the three way silence. Ran's least favorite kind.

"-Ekhem. May i ask what..."

"...I think Hattori broke into the black base."

"He **WHAT?**"

* * *

_What. a. disaster._

He really should have closed his mouth, especially since he says nonsense when he's stressed. And now the damn feather bomb of a man knows almost everything. _He doesn't need yet another person to worry!_ First _Kudo_ finds him all passed out, then _Haibara_ figures stuff out, then his _dad_\- **his dad for god's sake!**\- and then _this guy_ that he barely knows and should be arresting right about now.

Well, when he gets out of the surgery, he could, that is.

Not even an hour before he thought he had this under control. Well, doesn't look like it now.

He can already hear Shinichi coming down the hallway, his fast pace indicating how much he ruined his free time.

Well, yes, he knows the blue-eyed wanted to spend some time with his friends today. Other best friends, than him, that is...

So he tried to leave him out again, even though it felt a bit wrong...

Welp.

* * *

**What a way-too-fast way to continue the plot! I'm just crap at fillers! and a sucker for this scene that gotta be happenin' there soon**

**I HATE IT WITH PASSION! SEND ADVICE! CURE THIS THING!**

**or whatever, - cheer e s zz**

**Gotta correct this later too mannn**


End file.
